Pricelessware CD: Stage 1 Wrap-up

[Trey Hunner]

Steven Burn said the following on 4/10/2004 3:17 PM:

Thanks to Ben Cooper, the PW ISO file is now available for download.......

http://pliso.it-mate.co.uk/ISO/pw2004.iso

There may be a webpage coming for it depending on whether or not Susan
wishes to create one.... but until then, just right click the link above and
select "Sace target as ..." )

The file is over 500MB, so may take a while to download.... (especially for
those on dial-up)

I have a great idea that would allow people with slow connections to get
the ISO and it would not overwhelm one server with traffic at once. If
a torrent file was made people could use Bittorrent to download the ISO
and share it with others at the same time.

For those of you unfamiliar with Bittorrent, it is a peer to peer client
used soley for downloading files (especially large files just like this
ISO). A small .torrent file is created and a free torrent tracker is
used online to keep track of all the downloaders. The file is
downloaded in pieces. Any pieces that you may have will be sent to
other people that need those pieces. At the same time your computer is
downloading more pieces so everyone will eventually get the whole file.
People who already have the ISO can "seed" the torrent which means
that they are acting as one of the main uploaders (usually there are
many others also). Anyone (with any connection) can be a seeder or a
normal downloader (aka "leecher").

I have created a few torrent files before and I also have a free
PHP-based tracker I can use to easily track how many people are seeding
and leeching at any one time. Once I have the ISO downloaded I will
make the torrent and try to get it going. It would be *great* if we
could get this torrent on the Pricelessware site.

Original Bittorrent download: http://bitconjurer.org/BitTorrent/

Modified Bittorrent version (what I use):
http://bittornado.com/download.html (Shad0w's Expiremental)

 

[Susan Bugher]

I copied the CD to the HD.
Replaced the dvdsig.md5 with the one from the PW site.
Replace the dvdsig.exe with the one from the authors' site.
Verify yeilds:
Total:273 OK:273 Bad:0 Missing:0
The operation completed successfully. 273 files, 524MB, 27s
Does this look right/wrong, anyone know?

Looks just right - the numbers for comparison are here (added today):

http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/CD2004PL.htm

Susan

 

[My Name]

Looks just right - the numbers for comparison are here
(added today):

http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/CD2004PL.htm

Susan

Ahh, TYVM! Looks like, if I'd've waited just a taste longer,
before posting the question, I'd've got the new numbers, & the
answer on the PW site. :~}

 

[Ben Cooper]

Steven Burn said the following on 4/10/2004 3:17 PM:


I have a great idea that would allow people with slow connections to get
the ISO and it would not overwhelm one server with traffic at once. If
a torrent file was made people could use Bittorrent to download the ISO
and share it with others at the same time.

Well, what are you waiting for?

Once I have the ISO downloaded I will
make the torrent and try to get it going. It would be *great* if we
could get this torrent on the Pricelessware site.

Oh, that's what you're waiting for. Carry on then.

 

[Trey Hunner]

Ben Cooper said the following on 4/12/2004 6:12 PM:

above and


(especially for



Well, what are you waiting for?




Oh, that's what you're waiting for. Carry on then.

It may take a while longer for me to obtain the full ISO. I have cable
and I'm using Star Downloader. Right now the download is going at 7kb/s
with 4 connections. It could take upto 3 hours.

 

[Anonymous]

|I copied the CD to the HD.
|Replaced the dvdsig.md5 with the one from the PW site.
|Replace the dvdsig.exe with the one from the authors' site.
(snip)

I copied it to the HD and then changed stuff. I got rid of the
dvdsig thing and any reference to it in the readme file. It's a
useless tool in this situation. Most people are NOT going to
check if they have a "valid" CD or not. Add the fact that it's
just way to easy to change the CD then rescan it and create a
new checksum. If the CD is changed and a new checksum is made
then of course it will say everything is cool, so people won't
even bother going to Pricelessware to check if the checksums
match or not. Just like most people are not going to even scan
it for viruses or other nasties. BTW that should be on the CD as
well. Something in the read me file about when the files were
last checked for viruses and what program was used to check them.

I created two menus for the CD. The first one has

About Pricelessware
Business
Catagory Index
Desktop
File Utilities
Glossary
Graphics
Internet
Multimedia
Organizers
Programming
Security
System Utilities
Text
The Programs
Web Design


When you click on a word it launches IE and opens an html page.
When you click "The Programs" it launches another menu that has
a list of every programs file on the CD. When you click on one
of the program names it will start the install process (if it's
an exe) or what ever program you use to handle zip files. I even
redid the html files so that the links worked.

I understand people were in a rush to get the CD done but it was
done in a very poor way. Ya stick the CD in and a text file pops
up. Now you have to go to your CD drive and find the index.html
file. It would have been better if the autorun had launched a
menu or html file. The readme file could have been html and
still been the first thing that people saw. If people insist on
using the dvdsig program that should be added to a menu or auto
run as well.

There are useless duplicate files. Do people really need a zip
and exe of the same files?

If there are not enough programs to fill the CD then there ain't
enough. If people want then fill the space then offer the
programs that just missed out getting selected. Or offer
Pricelessware screensavers, Pricelessware wallpapers, tutorials
on basic computer skills, links to "respected" freeware sites,
anti-virus hoax and information sites, the FAQ even. Play up the
programs that were not included on the CD because the authors
said no. Ask Buzzy if you can include his reviews of any of the
programs that are listed on the CD. How about dadiOH's dandies?

Having the plug-ins for programs is fine but there is no
information on the plug-ins on the CD. That forces people to go
to the websites and look up the information. A decription should
be provided for every file that is on the CD. A few people have
alreay asked about the shellexe.exe file because there was not
mention of it in the readme file.

Don't get me worng I am very impressed by the speed in which the
CD was created. I like everyone else is grateful for the those
that worked on it and are willing to burn copies for others. I
am just disappointed in how sloppy it it was done.

-=-

 

[Nicolaas Hawkins]

Oh boy, am I feeling jealous!!

Having got 150k cable broadband - i thought it was great, now yeukkkk.

having read about the ISO now being available, I decided to have a go
using star down loader. I finally succeeded after 8.75 HOURS to get
it down, then on checking the result after burning, this is the result
I got.

The data is invalid. Programs\V\Visual Thought\VT14.EXE
The data is invalid. Programs\P\Pegasus Mail\w32-412a.exe
The data is invalid. Programs\A\Aida32\aida32ee_393.exe
Total:273 OK:270 Bad:3 Missing:0
The operation completed successfully. 273 files, 524MB, 450s

Ah well, back to the drawing board, My blank disk and SAE are now in
the post.

Ant

Dunno what you're grizzling about - it got 98.9% of it right.

_Note the the humour-challenged:_ *JOKE*
--

Regards,
Nicolaas.


- A father is usually a banker provided by nature.

 

[Trey Hunner]

Trey Hunner said the following on 4/12/2004 7:52 PM:

It may take a while longer for me to obtain the full ISO. I have cable
and I'm using Star Downloader. Right now the download is going at 7kb/s
with 4 connections. It could take upto 3 hours.

I'm stuck with 524.44mb out of 525.42 on the ISO right now. Your server
has timed out about 15 times in the last 5 minutes. One out of the four
connections I had would time out about every 10 mintues before this and
I had to reestablish it. Now I am not sure if I will be able to make
the torrent tonight. It will be made tomorrow with a temporary tracker
on my friends server which I hope will not be bogged down from the traffic.

Susan, I'll let you know when I get the tracker and torrent ready and
tell you what you need to put on the site for people to get the ISO and
for them to help others get it if they have the ISO.

Until tomorrow

 

[Ben Cooper]

|I copied the CD to the HD.
|Replaced the dvdsig.md5 with the one from the PW site.
|Replace the dvdsig.exe with the one from the authors' site.
(snip)

I copied it to the HD and then changed stuff.

[BIG SNIP]

Yes, it's possible a rouge burner could change anything they want to
change. I believe that fact was already established.

Posts made anonymously, though, are useless.
I mean, really, what's anyone supposed to do with the comments you've
made? It would be like talking to a wall.

As with any volunteer effort, you just have to take your chances. Is it
within the realm of possibility you might choose a bad burner? Yes, it
is.

There is no 100% protection.

 

[Ben Cooper]

It may take a while longer for me to obtain the full ISO. I have cable
and I'm using Star Downloader. Right now the download is going at 7kb/s
with 4 connections. It could take upto 3 hours.

It took me a little over six hours to upload it... so, patience is a
virtue.
What was that quote from the vultures?

Oh, I found it...
"One vulture says to the other:
Patience, my ass. I'm gonna kill something."

 

[Trey Hunner]

Trey Hunner said the following on 4/12/2004 5:54 PM:

I have a great idea that would allow people with slow connections to get
the ISO and it would not overwhelm one server with traffic at once. If
a torrent file was made people could use Bittorrent to download the ISO
and share it with others at the same time.

The torrent file is now up.

http://www.freesoftwarereviews.com/pw2004.iso.torrent

You will need bittorrent to use this file at all.

To enable download the ISO we need seeders. Seeders are the *main*
people that supply the ISO. _Anyone_ who has the ISO and *any* type
internet connection (slow or fast) can seed. To seed please open the
torrent in a version of Bittorrent and select the destination file to
save as the ISO that already exists. This will not overwrite this ISO.
It should recognize that you are 100% complete and make you a seeder.
If there is a seeding option (probably under internet connection) then
you may want to select that to make yourself a true dedicated seeder.

To download the ISO just open the torrent in Bittorrent and select where
you want to save the ISO. You should start downloading the ISO and
uploading to others also.

Susan, please feel free to put a copy of the torrent on your server if
you like.

 

[Trey Hunner]

Trey Hunner said the following on 4/12/2004 9:38 PM:
....

The torrent file is now up. ....

I need to turn off my computer soon and go to bed. The tracker for the
torrent is temporarily on my friends server here:
http://www.saveurulive.org/savelive/phptracker/

There is 1 seeder now (me) and 1 leecher. Once I turn off my computer I
will no longer be seeding so it is up to everyone else to help people
out in getting the ISO and *SEED*!

I may start a new thread soon to announce this.

 

[Anonymous]

(snip)
|Posts made anonymously, though, are useless.
|I mean, really, what's anyone supposed to do with the comments you've
|made? It would be like talking to a wall.

The fact that I post anonymously does not take away from the
issues I have brought up. Try to focus on the right thing here.

Pricelessware is "The best of the best in Windows © Freeware"
but the current CD looks like it was thrown together by kids. If
the CD represents Pricelessware it should be done better. There
was no effort taken at all to fix/change things. The html files
link to other pages that are not even on the CD.

How hard would it have been to

either remove those links or include the other html pages?
add a discription of the shellexe.exe file?
include a message that the files are virus free?
add discriptions of the pulg-ins?
remove the duplicate files?

|As with any volunteer effort, you just have to take your chances. Is it
|within the realm of possibility you might choose a bad burner? Yes, it
|is.
|
|There is no 100% protection.

So true.

-=-

 

[bambam]

I copied it to the HD and then changed stuff.

[BIG SNIP]

Yes, it's possible a rouge burner could change anything they want
to change. I believe that fact was already established.

Posts made anonymously, though, are useless.
I mean, really, what's anyone supposed to do with the comments
you've made? It would be like talking to a wall.

As with any volunteer effort, you just have to take your chances.
Is it within the realm of possibility you might choose a bad
burner? Yes, it is.

There is no 100% protection.

If you verify the CD as per the intructions on the Pricelessware site
you are guaranteed a clean copy.

http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/CD2004PL.htm

 

[Richard Steven Hack]

I need to turn off my computer soon and go to bed. The tracker for the
torrent is temporarily on my friends server here:
http://www.saveurulive.org/savelive/phptracker/

There is 1 seeder now (me) and 1 leecher. Once I turn off my computer I
will no longer be seeding so it is up to everyone else to help people
out in getting the ISO and *SEED*!

I'm downloading now via your tracker using TorrentStorm V1.1 and will
try to seed (TorrentStorm does this automatically apparently) once
it's down, although I can't guarantee how long I'll keep it going.

This is my first torrent download so we'll see how it goes.

 

[Ben Cooper]

(snip)

The fact that I post anonymously does not take away from the
issues I have brought up.

Yes, it does. You're a nobody.

 

[REM]

|I copied the CD to the HD.
|Replaced the dvdsig.md5 with the one from the PW site.
|Replace the dvdsig.exe with the one from the authors' site.
(snip)

I copied it to the HD and then changed stuff. I got rid of the
dvdsig thing and any reference to it in the readme file. It's a
useless tool in this situation. Most people are NOT going to
check if they have a "valid" CD or not. Add the fact that it's
just way to easy to change the CD then rescan it and create a
new checksum. If the CD is changed and a new checksum is made
then of course it will say everything is cool, so people won't
even bother going to Pricelessware to check if the checksums
match or not. Just like most people are not going to even scan
it for viruses or other nasties. BTW that should be on the CD as
well. Something in the read me file about when the files were
last checked for viruses and what program was used to check them.

I don't think this is wise if you intend to distribute copies with the
changes that you have made.

The dvdsig is _invaluable_ in maintaining the intergrity of the CD.

It is also very easy to use. Rather than check the .md5 file for each
program, the receiver of the image should run the dvdsig program to
determine the checksums of what is on the CD at that point in time.

THEN, the receiver downloads the official .md5 file and runs dvdsig
again VERIFYING that the newly created .md5 file matches the official
..md5 file. It is very easy to do and requires 1 minute or less to do.
Frankly, it is impossible to change 1 bit and have two files that
verify.

I saw the warez crowd got wind of the CD. It would be pretty bad if
copies start circulating that contain warez, cracks, serials, worms,
etc. in what "appears" to be a PL CD. The verification is extremely
important. Removing the program and info can spoil a very great
volunteer effort that you spearheaded.

Don't get me worng I am very impressed by the speed in which the
CD was created. I like everyone else is grateful for the those
that worked on it and are willing to burn copies for others. I
am just disappointed in how sloppy it it was done.

I disagree. I think it worked out fantastically.

 

[Ben Cooper]

I copied it to the HD and then changed stuff.

[BIG SNIP]

Yes, it's possible a rouge burner could change anything they want
to change. I believe that fact was already established.

Posts made anonymously, though, are useless.
I mean, really, what's anyone supposed to do with the comments
you've made? It would be like talking to a wall.

As with any volunteer effort, you just have to take your chances.
Is it within the realm of possibility you might choose a bad
burner? Yes, it is.

There is no 100% protection.

If you verify the CD as per the intructions on the Pricelessware site
you are guaranteed a clean copy.

http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/CD2004PL.htm

Yeah, sure... but, can we *really* trust Susan?

 

[bambam]

Yeah, sure... but, can we *really* trust Susan?

Nice to see the winky.

 

[David Simpson]

I created two menus for the CD. The first one has

Catagory Index

Category please. Not flaming you just noting the error.

When you click on a word it launches IE and opens an html page.

Why IE? Shouldn't you use the default browser?

The rest of the comments are, I feel, mostly accurate. Please note for
the next CD.