[Coco] Colorcomputerarchive harmful behavior

[Aaron Wolfe]

Most of the modern, active projects (the ones I wish weren't being copied
and redistributed) are hosted on sourceforge, one of the biggest project
hosting organizations in the world.  This makes today's scenario is quite
different than times past.  I think one of the reasons these projects use
large public hosting solutions is to address issues of availability.

I agree there is value in backups, and if the official project site does
become unavailable, *then* it may be appropriate to make those backups
public.  It really would be better to backup the entire project site and
not just select files though.  There is great value in the wiki for NitrOS9
and DriveWire for instance.
 On May 25, 2014 9:06 PM, "Bob Devries" <devries.bob at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Aaron,
>
> while I agree in general with what you're saying, I can also see the point
> of view from a user side. What Guillame is trying to do I think, is to make
> an extra repository of the available software for the colour computer. What
> would happen if the current main repository went down? This has, I believe,
> happened before. Of course, it does put the onus on Guillame to ensure that
> the files are kept up-to-date; a mammoth task especially with active
> projects.
>
> my $0.02
>
> Regards, Bob Devries
> Dalby, QLD, Australia
>
> On 26/05/2014 10:50 AM, Aaron Wolfe wrote:
>
>> I noticed you are also redistributing the NitrOS9 project files.  I am
>> only
>> one of many contributors so I cannot speak for the project as a whole, but
>> I think this is a bad idea.
>>
>> The NitrOS9 project has a great web site with all kinds of useful
>> information in addition to the files you've copied to your own site.  When
>> changes or updates are made they are communicated to users via this site.
>> To separate the disk images from the official project web site seems like
>> a
>> disservice to the users and the developers.
>>
>> Why not just always use a link to any active official website instead of
>> copying their files?  As a general rule this would serve everyone well and
>> be less work for you to boot.
>>   On May 25, 2014 8:31 PM, "Aaron Wolfe" <aawolfe at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>  I understand it is done out of a desire to be helpful, but copying files
>>> from other active sites and redistributing them is simply not a good
>>> idea.
>>>
>>> You currently have out of date versions of LWTools, VCC, and DriveWire on
>>> your site.  These are not only the wrong files for a new user to
>>> download,
>>> but they have been separated from important documentation found on the
>>> official project websites.
>>>
>>> The people who work hard to create our community tools don't need extra
>>> headaches.  A link to their official site is helpful, copying select
>>> content and redistributing it is not helpful.
>>>   On May 25, 2014 8:21 PM, "Guillaume Major" <gmajor at videotron.ca>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hi Aaron,
>>>>
>>>> I'm the owner of the Color Computer Archive.
>>>>
>>>> The goal of this site is to provide a central repository to get Color
>>>> Computer software and documentation. No harm to the coco community was
>>>> intented by including active projects in the archive. They were included
>>>> for completeness.
>>>>
>>>> If you feel some files doesn't belong to the archive, please indicate
>>>> which ones and I will remove them.
>>>>
>>>> Guillaume
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Aaron Wolfe" <aawolfe-
>>>> Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org>
>>>> Newsgroups: gmane.comp.hardware.tandy.coco
>>>> To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco-uNHYcr1XS/wmlAP/+
>>>> Wk3EA at public.gmane.org>
>>>> Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2014 6:17 PM
>>>> Subject: Colorcomputerarchive harmful behavior
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>   Who runs this site?  Can anyone get in touch with them and ask them to
>>>>
>>>>> please stop distributing outdated versions of software created and
>>>>> maintained by other people?
>>>>>
>>>>> Its one thing to be an "archive" of software that is no longer under
>>>>> development, but distributing out of date versions of current projects
>>>>> does
>>>>> nobody any good.  That's why active projects nearly always insist on
>>>>> coordinated mirrors (or do not allow mirrors at all).
>>>>>
>>>>> The heart might be in the right place, but things like this make our
>>>>> community even more difficult for newcomers.
>>>>>
>>>>> Never distribute the files of someone elses active project!
>>>>>
>>>>> /rant off
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Coco mailing list
>>>>> Coco-uNHYcr1XS/wmlAP/+Wk3EA at public.gmane.org
>>>>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
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