On usenet it is a well established practice to send out binaries
in UUENCODED format. For example alt.sources, comp.ibm.pc.binaries
but on Bionet we only have bionet.software.
Over the past couple of days there have been a couple of UUE posting
to what is basically a "conversational" newsgroup. At the momment
I run a small mailing list called BIOSERV which tries to coordinate
the distribution of software between EMBL IUBIO MENUDO and NIC so that
the molecular biology software sites try to mirror each other.
What I would like to know is would there be any need for a newsgroup
called bionet.software.binaries? I already have a directory on NIC
called /pub/sci/incoming for accepting PD software, and it would not
be a big job to UUENCODE any software deposited there and pump it out
to a newsgroup... but is there any need for such a mechanism?
What would such a system achieve?
1) Binaries would not get mixed with text.
2) FTP sites would have a mechanism to grab the latest files.
3) Users would be made instantly aware when new software was available.
Opinions please to this open forum.
RGDS -=ROB=-
