🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <9920@spool.cs.wisc.edu> tonyrich@titanic.cs.wisc.edu (Anthony Rich)
writes:

> I decided to try to collect all my favorite freeware programs into one 
> place so that making up a set of "great freeware" disks was easy to do.  
> Below is the list I have so far.  [.......]

> If you have a favorite freeware program you think I should add to this
> list, send me the name of it.  IT HAS TO BE ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY 
> FREE -- NOT SHAREWARE.  No "beerware," "massageware," or other weird-
> paymentware.  

  While I find your initiative of trying to assemble a list of great
  freeware-programs a worthwhile undertaking in its own right, I admit
  that I find your general attitude towards other forms of NON-
  COMMERCIAL program distribution a highly disturbing prospect.  An
  unjustifiedly hostile one as well, towards the **hordes** of highly
  idealistic (right word, that,) shareware authors, ones largely
  responsible for making what the Mac has become today -- a rare
  combination of a hacker's dream amchine and a productivity tool for
  the masses.

  Where else would we be without the endless nights, put in by the
  shareware authors, too numerous to mention here?  They deserve our
  ***PIDDLING*** shareware fees and our respect on the same level as
  those earned by the real creators and implementors of Mac hardware and
  software (beginning with Jeff Raskin, the original hardware project
  manager, Bruce Horn, responsible for the Finder [the "Bruce" in the
  "About Finder" dialog] and the third individual, whose name escapes me
  now, who came up with the idea of named resources).  Steve Jobs?  Oh,
  comme on, don't make me laugh.

  In deciding to post this lengthy flame-with-a-twist, rather than just
  reply directly via e-mail, I am hoping that we can get a discussion
  going on what constitutes a GREAT program, one worthy of being put on
  a limited-size `Get-Started-With-The-Mac List/ Diskette package', and
  of whose presence there every freeware-, shareware-, and other you-
  name-it-ware author could be proud of.... a kind of *WARE HALL OF FAME.

  I believe, however, that the main governing software-selecting factor
  should be NOT whether some program (or other) is of the **TOTAL
  FREEWARE** variety but, rather, how usefull it is; usefullness defined
  here as some arbitrarily felt _real_ use, as opposed to merely hype,
  industrial lights and magic.

  Possibly this discussion could also be of help to all past and future
  *ware authors among us, trying to decide on "what next to implement".

  My view is that if you're already decided to forsake TV, love and the
  barbershop singing classes for a chance at the Mac Software Firmament
  then you might just as well do it for someone else beyond your own
  neato-wishes, and, possibly, to fullfill some _real_ need of the Mac.

  Speaking of which, why, I'd kill for a HyperCard-style `Message-Box
  for the Finder'(an INIT for general use), complete with regular-
  expression file-handling utilities, filename completion and command
  history features, with built-in simple line editor ("cat > file'
  creates and appends TEXT to a file, `cat file' types it one, or few
  lines, at a time) ), head, tail, sed and awk.  But then of course, I'm
  special, I never had much use for the MacPuke-type Real-Programming-
  Feats ;-) All I can further say on the subject is: whoever does it
  first has my double shareware fee, endless gratitude and the assured
  use of my hereby copyrighted name for it:

 "csh-in-a-box"[tm]    ;-)


  Here, then, are my comments as to the appropriateness of Tony's
  original choices, along with few suggestions for other candidates
  for inclusion on such a Get-Started-List/ Disk:


> GREAT MAC FREEWARE (in alphabetical order)
>
> BinHex 4.0          Converts files to/from "hex" form for safer file transfer

  ((alas, not as safe to use, as the more stable BinHex code in the
  StuffIt proper))

> Boomerang 2.0B9     Lets you quickly return to recently used files & folders

  ((generally unstable in my 6.0.2 system; sorry, looks neat-o))

> Disinfectant 1.6    Terrific virus detection/removal program

  ((author: John Norstad & friends -- it's terrific, agreed; but let
  us not forget the even more useful suite of GateKeeper1.11 and the
  GateKeeper Aid 1.01, both by Chris Johnson -- because they stop the
  viri right there at the gates))

> Fast Formatter 2.4  Automatic floppy formatter; great for doing 50 in a row

  ((who cares?  limited use))

> FinderSounds 1.0.2  Associates fun sounds with Finder events (System 6.0.4)

  ((fun the first few monts of Mac use; then it's more bother than of
  any real use; this remark, in my view, concerns much of the *fun*
  add-ons for the Mac in general; an advanced user strips away as much
  as possible of this, to simplify the already overloaded system as much
  as possible))

> Layout 1.9          Customizes the layout of files and folders on the desktop

  ((godd stuff; alas how often does one need it.  It'd also be better to
  have had this functionality in the form of a LAYO-resource template
  editor for the ResEdit, rather than as a general program))

> MacEnvy 2.0         Provides detailed info about Mac's hardware & software 

  ((oh, yeah?  Big deal for mental masturbators and the "mine is bigger, 
  faster, better" crowd; nothing one could really call useful))

> Mac Kermit 98(62)   Transfers files to/from nearly every computer ever made

  ((agreed, fairly stable, alas slow transfer rate; I get twice as fast
  transfers at the same baud rate with the shareware ZTerm 0.85 -- the
  shareware fee of US$ 30.- going a long way towards ultimately smaller
  phone bills))

> STeVIe 3.10         Clone of the Unix "vi" text editor; handy for Unix users

  ((agreed, a stable, possibly (don't quite remember) Script-Manager-
  compliant port by Earle R.  Horton; there is also a previous, much
  smaller version of the `stevie' -- around 40KB's worth))

> UnStuffit 1.40      Decompresses Stuffit files downloaded from other systems

  ((agreed, not nearly as useful as the UnStuffIt DA though, from the
  same distribution package -- eat your cake without MultiFinder &
  have it, too!))

> Any additions?  It can be ANY kind of free program (INITs, DAs, games, etc).



  Let's say, any NON-COMMERCIALLY distributed program, some of them
  of the freeware type, along with my motivation for the nomination:

  1 MicroEmacs 3.9e for the Mac; the fastest editor that I've seen, also
    _very_stable_, opens unlimited?number of unlimited-size files at once,
    some macro language (on the level of McSink and beyond), recordable
    keyboard-macro capabilities, ported, also that, to the Mac by Earle R.
    Horton; at sumex-aim mistakenly put in the /source directory. A newer
    port, the MicroEmacs 3.10 also exists but, being a different-source
    program allthogether, is still far slower and not yet as perfect as the
    previous version.

  2 MacCompress 3.2 by Lloyd L. Chambers; a free LZIV compressor, that
    works nicely with `compress' under UNIX; very stable, and easy to 
    use and customize, within reason.  A real and clearly unknown gem.

  3 ZTerm 0.85 by Dave P. Alverson; terminal access with XYZmodem 
    protocols.  How I formerly got along without it is now utterly beyond
    my comprehension.


  Also, too numerous to describe in detail, but not less worthy candidates
  for the *WARE HALL OF FAME.   I apologize for not including more of the
  commendable efforts, but had to draw the line somewhere -- this is what
  I generally use, if at all....  a general check-list:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
System 6.0.2 folder:                             A = application   D = document
I Name                   Type  Creator  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D A ScrapSaver           INIT  Paul  by J Paul; restores clipboard after reboot
D Corner                 INIT  Corn  screen-coordinates, by Guenter Blaschek
D FKEYpad 1.0            INIT  REFj  use Mac+/SE num-keypad for FKEYs
D FlashWrite             cdev  fwrt  great little editor by Andrew Welch
D GateKeeper1.11         cdev  Gate  also requires the GateKeeper Aid 1.01
D P Key                  INIT  ADBb  by Paul Mercer, use SE:s useless key
D PopChar                cdev  cPop  by Guenter Blaschek; find any character
D RearWindow1.1          INIT  rwMF  by Dean Yu; cmd-tab-click in other window
D SFScrollInit           INIT  Andy  makes thumb stick in place in SFGet/Put
D SFVol INIT 1.5         INIT  SFVl  makes folders painlessly in SFPut/GetD:s
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
applications:
A append.1               APPL  CTLZ  by Mark Zimmerman, author of FreeText
A Browser 0.2beta        APPL  NeXT  by Rick Searle; a NeXT demo emulator
A Dir-Acta-ry 1.0        APPL  ACTD  makes indexed disk catalogs in Acta format
A pSort                  APPL  JMG0  by Jerzy Giergiel; fast TEXT sort utility
A United v2.2            APPL  Xutd  by Bill Stackhouse; combines .hqx files
A WhereSIT 1.4           APPL  WSIT  repl for FindFile; also looks inside SIT!
A XForm1.1b              APPL  ????  by Eran Resheef; general char-converter
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Desk Accessories:
D ArtBrowser10b6         DFIL  DMOV  opens, prints EPSF files (PICT-forks)
D BaseToBase             DFIL  DMOV  multi-base calculator
D FontMaster v1.1        DFIL  DMOV  this and one below by Ken Winograd of BCS
D FontWizard v1.0        DFIL  DMOV  control of fonts
D Hex Dump DA            DFIL  DMOV  reads/ dumps hex code
D McSink 7.0             DFIL  DMOV  by Dave McWherter; unique (also Vantage)
D System Errors 2.5      DFIL  DMOV  by Bill Steinberg; too bad it is needed
D VirusDetective 3.11    DFIL  DMOV  by Jeff Schulman; too bad it is needed ;-(
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
other.sit:
D Free Help v.0.8.sit    SIT!  SIT! possibly-great free-text indexing program
D Free Text v.0.8.sit    SIT!  SIT! possibly-great free-text browsing program
D Lifelab.sit            SIT!  SIT! fun beyond belief; by Andrew Trevorrow
D reg_exp.sit            SIT!  SIT! grep & s///g utilities for HyperCard
D ClipboardMag.0.62.sit  SIT!  SIT! general clipboard processor, by Ed Lai
D sesame.c.sit           SIT!  SIT! shareware C compiler, with 68000 assembler
D SuperClock3.8.sit      SIT!  SIT! by Steve Christensen
D Terminal DA 1.5.sit    SIT!  SIT! multilingual terminal program in 32KB
D TextOnlyPrint125.sit   SIT!  SIT! possibly-great multi-column TEXT processor
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Brought to you by:

--Ian Feldman / ianf@nada.kth.se  ||  uunet!nada.kth.se!ianf / The "I had the
        bug narrowed down to a subrutine and then I lost all interest" hacker