Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!ames!sdcsvax!sdcc6!sdacs!wade
From: wade@sdacs.ucsd.EDU (Wade Blomgren)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: ** Stuffit ** vs Packit
Keywords: Stuffit, Packit.
Message-ID: <480@sdacs.ucsd.EDU>
Date: 17 Dec 87 18:58:35 GMT
References: <156@escargot.UUCP> <3569@husc6.harvard.edu>
Organization: UCSD Academic Computing Services
Lines: 29

In <3569@husc6.harvard.edu>, olson@endor.harvard.edu (Eric K. Olson) writes:
> Unfortunately, Stuffit is only free for unpacking, not for packing, which
> means that everyone that uploads stuff needs to pay the (admittedly very
> small) shareware fee....
> Packit II does not make this stipulation, if I recall correctly...
> -Eric

From the Packit II (_not_ III) welcome screen:

"Packit II is shareware; it isn't free. If you like it and want to
continue to use it, sent $10 to the following address. If you
want a copy of the latest version mailed to you, send $20."

Stuffit and Packit are both shareware. (Except Stuffit is free for unpacking,
and Packit is not - the whole point of people rarely using the compression 
feature of PackitII was that recipients of postings would be "forced" to
pay for PackitII to unpack the postings, and such de facto endorsement of
a particular product was thought to violate the spirit of the usenet, if
not the letter of some arpanet rule.)  There now exist ways to unpack 
compressed Packit files (Unix Unpit by Allen Weber, Mac version of same by
Thomas Newton, etc) but due to that initial stigma, compressed Packit got
off to a slow start.  And now we have Stuffit. 

Anyway, PackitII is not freeware. I suppose there could be hacked copies
floating around that don't have the welcome screen that tells you this,
and that could cause some confusion...?  

Wade Blomgren 
wade@sdacs.ucsd.edu