🚀 go-pugleaf

I thought this would be of general interest, so I am posting instead
of mailing directly to Matt.

In article <3540@ingr.com>, matt@ingr.com (Matt Blemenfeld) writes:
> All RIGHT!!! Got a new toy! A Mac II with all sorts of memory, hard disk,
> all that kinda thing..... and NO software! (OK, I lied.... it DOES have a
> little software, but *none* of the stuff you REALLY need... like term
> programs, and cool little DA's like... uh... don't KNOW like what! ;-) )
> 
> Right now, we have a program called MacKermit, which we can use to talk
> to the VAXen in our building, as well as TALKing to the world outside.
> I guess that what I'm trying to do is find out what the best/easiest
> shareware (or pd) term program for the MAC II is. Any assistance would be
> greatly appreciated!

It all depends on what you want to do with your Mac.  There is a large body
of macintosh freely-redistributable software (Public Domain, Freeware,
Shareware, et. al.).  Some good places to start looking for software include
any local Mac user groups (these are all over the place as Apple apparently
provides some measure of support for user groups), national user groups
(such as the Berkeley BMUG or the Boston Computer Society), freely-
redistributable software vendors (those $4 a disk folks who make their
money distributing this software), and, of course, here on the net
(take a look a comp.binaries.mac).

The very first thing you need for grabbing binaries from comp.binaries.mac
is a version of BinHex 4.0 (this is NOT 5.0) and Stuffit (1.5.1 is the 
latest version I have seen).  BinHex converts a binary file to ASCII-printable
characters and makes files suitable for mailing with most electronic
mail systems.  The files in comp.binaries.mac are encoded in this manner.
BinHex also decodes those files to create Mac binaries from the encoded
text.  Stuffit is a file archiver/compressor program.  To cut down on
transmission times and disk space usage, many programs are compressed using
Stuffit.  An older, competing standard for file compression is the PackIt 
format, named for the program PackIt.  Stuffit can uncompress PackIt files
(which usually have a .pit appended to the file name -- Stuffit files
usually have a .sit appended to the file name).  Stuffit can also decode
BinHex files.  So, Stuffit is essential for grabbing more Mac software.

On file compressors, the standard in the PC world is called ARC.  There
is a Mac version, called MacArc.  If you want to grab PC files (I find
a lot of source files in PC ARC format and usually de-ARC them on the PC
end, but this is not always on option).

Other software you may want to pick up include:

Application programs
* ViewPaint           A program that displays MacPaint image files.
* FreeTerm            A bare-bones communication program that supports
                      XModem file transfers.  I use it only when I need
                      XModem, and use Kermit otherwise.
* RedRyder            A be-all, end-all terminal emulator. Versions 9.x
                      are shareware and 10.x are commercial.  Some swear
                      by this program. Others swear at it.
* Solve               An equation solver. Type in the equations, compile
                      them and see the results. It allows you to feed it
                      initial values for some variables and solves for the
                      rest. Fun if you do a lot of Math.
* Giffer              A program to view colour GIF image files on the Mac II
                      (if you have a colour monitor).  GIF is an image
                      format sponsored by CompuServe, and GIF viewers are
                      available for Apple IIGS, Amiga, ST, PC, et. al.
* Gif Converter       A program by the same author to view GIF files on
                      B+W Macs (like my SE).
* ResEdit             A resource editor from Apple.  The Mac uses resources
                      for a lot of things, including menus, icons and windows.
                      ResEdit is a handy tool, but dangerous unless you
                      know what you are doing. Contact the Apple Prog.
                      and Dev. Assn. (APDA) for more info.
* VirusRx             A virus fighter released by Apple (a recent version just
                      came by in comp.binaries.mac). Viruses are little
                      self-propagting nasties that computer dweebs, who, if 
                      they are smart should be able to come up with useful
                      programs instead of viruses, foist upon the world.
* Interferon          Another virus fighter.
* XLISP               A version of the LISP AI language that is available for
                      many different machines, including PCs, Unix boxes,
                      and Amigas.  If you ever take an AI course, get it.

Desk Assesories
* Virus Detective     Viruses are no fun, as you can tell.
* SigmaEdit
* McSink
* JoliWrite
* miniWRITER
* MockWrite           These are all forms of text editors.  I believe editor
                      choice is a religious issue, so try a few and choose
                      the one you like.  I find that being able to view
                      text files is a real handy thing to do. Although most
                      word processors can read in text, sometimes a simple
                      text editor cannot be beat. If you find a Unix vi-style
                      text editor, please tell me, as I haven't been able
                      to find one. I hate vi, but it is the only editor
                      that is available on a multitude of systems.
* ResReview
* RezPeek             I may have these names wrong, but if you plan on
                      writing code on the Mac, these can come in handy.
                      ResReview displays resources, such as icons. RezPeek
                      de-compiles these resources to the text commands used
                      to create the resources.  Your compiler should come with
                      a program to convert the text commands back into
                      resources used with your program.


INITS and CDEVS
* Fish                This is the cutest thing I have seen for Mac II colour
                      systems.  It displays randomly moving fish in the
                      background of your screen (behind windows, etc.).
                      It even comes with a fish editor, to create your own
                      coloured fish.  When I first saw Fish, I decided that
                      I have to get a Mac II (if only Apple would lower the
                      price a wee bit :-(.
* Vaccine             Partial protection from some known viruses.
* hierDA              This INIT makes the Apple menu into a hierarchical
                      menu. This means you can call up most DAs and choose
                      a DA menu choice all in one operation.
* Application Menu    If you have enough RAm, and are running MultiFinder,
                      This allows you to pull down a menu in the top
                      right of the screen -- a menu that contains the name
                      of all active applications. This makes it easier than
                      selecting the Apple menu and going all the way to the
                      bottom to change to a particular application.
* Dimmer              A MacII screen saver.



Also, by all means get a program that can read MacWrite files.  Most
sharware programs that come with documentation put that documentation
into MacWrite files. (This is for historical reasons as the original
mac came bundled with MacWrite. Now, most word processors read MacWrite 
files).


> 
> On a related note: I notice that the binaries here all require a program
> called 'binhex' to convert them from message to binary format. Where can
> binhex be obtained? As is probably clear, we are pretty much novices at this
> MAC II stuff, and need all the help we can get! Thanks....... 


I Hope this helps,
-Eric

 
>  /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
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> 	%#%	uunet!ingr!b11!dedhed!matt  %#%           with a signature?
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