From: justin@hp750.ccs.uky.edu (Justin Sullivan)
Subject: Re: Sumex is in need of a restucturing
    <BRECHER.92Dec31192928@husc8.harvard.edu> 
    <1993Jan2.030645.17703@msc.cornell.edu> <1993Jan2.041942.9805@netcom.com>
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1993 05:27:50 GMT

bskendig@netcom.com (Brian Kendig) writes:

>There are other problems with umich's directory structure:

>(1) It's too deep.  I'm not crazy about the 'game' directory structure
>being broken down into 'space', 'arcade', 'adventure', and so forth,
>especially since most games fall under more than one category (where
>do you put an arcade-style space adventure?).  Perhaps just a text
>directory file listing each games along with the 'classes' it falls
>under would be preferable.

I know how you feel.. Once, I got a file that didn't really fit any of
the classifying subdirectories in our hypercard hierarchy, so I stuck it
in /mac/hypercard/filename. Boy, did I get it for that one.. The other
archivers operate under a very structured philosophy. I don't have a problem
with it (more on that in a minute), but that is a good point.. Maybe we 
should just divide it into new and maybe one or two other categories..

>(2) The directory names are too long.  On sumex, if I want to get into
>the control panel directory, I type "cd cp".  On umich, if I want to
>get there, I type "cd system.extensions/cdev".  This can get very
>annoying when I'm grabbing a lot of files, especially since I keep
>misspelling "extentions" instead.

Amen.. I tried to have the fonts directory moved to the top level, and
everyone acted like it would be the end of the world or something. They
thought that if we moved one lousy directory to the root level (/mac),
chaos would ensue, and before long, every other directory would weasel
its way to the top. I didn't see what the big deal was.. I usually let
someone else archive fonts because if I would get metacarpel tunnel syndrome
typing out those names all the time.. (thank god for filename completion!
Too bad it doesn't work for FTP users..)

And then there was this debate about archiving programs by technical accuracy
or real-world functionality.. That's why you sometimes find things where you
feel they probably don't belong. I lost on that one, too..

>(3) The files frequently have no information about what they are on
>them.  If I see a file with an interesting name, I have to download it
>to my Mac and unbinhex/unstuff it before I can find out what it is; if
>I grab a file from Sumex, I can just read the hqx file on my Unix
>machine before I download it to my Mac, saving me a lot of time if I
>decide I don't want it after all.

Why can't you read our binhex files on your UNIX box before deciding
to download them? How do you think I archive them? SOMETIMES the descriptive
headers (they usually have one, but not always) get trashed. If I grab
the newstuff that SUMEX gets (and I do :) I do my best to preserve the
header. If the truth were known (I guess it is now!), 99% of everything
I archive never even sees a Macintosh until AFTER I have it archived. I
want to get it out of incoming and into its rightful place with an index
entry FIRST, then I download it and look at it. (it gets virus-checked, etc.)

>Ideally, I'd like to see the people who run sumex and umich get
>together and make sure they each have all the latest versions of the
>same stuff; it's not like they're competing!

I'm a fanatic about having the latest version.. I'll even spend my own $$$
to download it from America Online if I have to. Besides, the only time
we 'get together' is when we have a big problem, like another pirated copy
of SoftAT! :) Which reminds me..

Someone tried to pass off a convincing-looking copy of a StuffIt Lite 3.04
updater, but Aladdin's chief engineer (Leonard Rosenthal) said it definitely
was *NOT* an official release. Be on the lookout for it..
Xref: sparky comp.sys.mac.misc:21105 sci.electronics:21595