[PL] PL2005 CD

[Susan Bugher]

This thread is for discussion of a PL2005 CD.

Please post if you want to volunteer for this project and indicate what
sort of assistance you wish to offer.

A tentative timetable:

November 14, 2004 - Final Pricelessware List Posted

Nov. 14, 2004 - begin asking authors for permission to include their
program(s)

Dec. 14, 2004 - finalize list of programs and versions of programs
(final downloads)

Dec. 14, 2004 - create the PL2005 CD and CD ISO and begin distribution
to volunteers.

Jan. 1, 2005 - PL 2005 becomes "official"

Below is a first draft of the PL2005 CD goals and procedures.

************

The goal is to offer options for obtaining a large number of
Pricelessware programs with minimum effort.

1. Creation of a PL2005 CD for people who have difficulty downloading
programs due to slow connections speeds, high connection costs etc. etc.

2. Creation of an ISO of the CD for people who have high speed connections.

-----------------

Copies of the CD will be made and distributed by alt.comp.freeware
volunteer burners. Recipients may be asked to pay for the cost of making
and mailing the CD.

Burners may ask the recipient to send a blank CD and a self-addressed
mailing envelope or they may ask to be paid for those out-of-pocket
expenses.

-----------------

Contents of the CD:

The PL web pages.

The PL programs *if* the author allows redistribution by individuals.

The PL programs *if* the author allows redistribution by
alt.comp.freeware participants

Excluded from the CD:

Programs that may not be redistributed.

Most programs that require registration before downloading (if the
author gives permission they will be included).

Programs that require an agreement before redistribution is allowed. The
alt.comp.freeware newsgroup cannot enter into legal agreements.

************

Comments please.

Susan

 

[Mark S.]

Susan Bugher wrote alt.comp.freeware on Fri, 22 Oct 2004 12:04:13 -0400,
the following

This thread is for discussion of a PL2005 CD.

Please post if you want to volunteer for this project and indicate what
sort of assistance you wish to offer.

I volunteer again and with whatever assistance is needed.
Download files and snail mail them to Susan, butner or ???

Mark S

 

[Susan Bugher]

Susan Bugher wrote alt.comp.freeware on Fri, 22 Oct 2004 12:04:13 -0400,
the following


I volunteer again and with whatever assistance is needed.
Download files and snail mail them to Susan, butner or ???

Thank you Mark.

I volunteer to contact authors, work on the index, HTML pages etc. I
think the person who *creates* the CD and the ISO should have a high
speed connection - and I don't.

I can't upload an ISO of the CD. Last year I downloaded small files that
were updated after I received CDs from you and the other downloaders but
not the new version of OO.org that came out at the last minute.

Would you like to volunteer to create the CD and CD ISO? Downloaders
could snail mail their CDs to you. I could email the index, HTML pages
etc. or upload the files to PWH for you to download. (Those will change
right up until the last minute but they are small files.)

Susan

 

[Mark S.]

[This followup was posted to alt.comp.freeware and a copy was sent to
the cited author.]

Susan Bugher wrote alt.comp.freeware on Fri, 22 Oct 2004 13:33:39 -0400,
the following

I volunteer to contact authors, work on the index, HTML pages etc. I
think the person who *creates* the CD and the ISO should have a high
speed connection - and I don't.

I can't upload an ISO of the CD. Last year I downloaded small files that
were updated after I received CDs from you and the other downloaders but
not the new version of OO.org that came out at the last minute.

Would you like to volunteer to create the CD and CD ISO? Downloaders
could snail mail their CDs to you. I could email the index, HTML pages
etc. or upload the files to PWH for you to download. (Those will change
right up until the last minute but they are small files.)

Sure, I can create the ISO and CD.

Mark S.

 

[Susan Bugher]

Susan Bugher wrote alt.comp.freeware on Fri, 22 Oct 2004 13:33:39 -0400,
the following

Sure, I can create the ISO and CD.

Super, thanks.

Last year three volunteers did the downloading. Would anyone like to
volunteer now for that task? Each download volunteer could download a
portion of the alphabetical list and send the files to Mark.

We'll need volunteer burners. We have one volunteer host for the ISO -
with *limited* downloading capability. Does someone wish to organize a
bit torrent distribution or suggest other possibilities for hosting a PL
ISO?

The goals and procedures should be finalized before I start requesting
authorization from the authors of the programs. In the present draft the
CD distribution procedure is the same as it was for PL2004. The online
distribution procedures need to be discussed and added.

Susan

 

[Mark Warner]

We'll need volunteer burners.

Mark/Susan -- Put me on the burner list. When the time comes, point me
to the ISO or send me a disk. I'll bug RedLeg about making the ISO
available for public download. (He's easy.)

Note munge in email addy.

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?Omar=A9?=]

Super, thanks.

Last year three volunteers did the downloading. Would anyone like to
volunteer now for that task? Each download volunteer could download a
portion of the alphabetical list and send the files to Mark.

We'll need volunteer burners. We have one volunteer host for the ISO -
with *limited* downloading capability. Does someone wish to organize a
bit torrent distribution or suggest other possibilities for hosting a PL
ISO?

The goals and procedures should be finalized before I start requesting
authorization from the authors of the programs. In the present draft the
CD distribution procedure is the same as it was for PL2004. The online
distribution procedures need to be discussed and added.

Susan
--
Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org
ACF FAQ: http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/faq.html
ACF wiki: http://www.markcarter.me.uk/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?AcfWiki

You can count on me to be a volunteer burner again.
I can try to do some downloading, just tell me what.
Omar

 

[Mark S.]

[This followup was posted to alt.comp.freeware and a copy was sent to
the cited author.]

Omar© wrote alt.comp.freeware on Fri, 22 Oct 2004 21:00:52 -0400, the
following

SNIP
You can count on me to be a volunteer burner again.
I can try to do some downloading, just tell me what.
Omar

Thankyou Omar,

We will probably wait until after the first of December to do any
downloading, so that we can get the most recents updates on the CD. I
remember the first one and Ben (I think) got the ball rolling. He
picked a category to download and we went from there. I rather liked
the way it was handled. As Susan mentioned earlier...
"November 14, 2004 - Final Pricelessware List Posted"
All we can do until at least then is PLAN.

Mark S.

 

[Roger Johansson]

We will probably wait until after the first of December to do any
downloading, so that we can get the most recents updates on the CD. I
remember the first one and Ben (I think) got the ball rolling. He
picked a category to download and we went from there. I rather liked
the way it was handled.

I liked it too, it was a good example of voluntary cooperation and
rational organisation. But the situation is different when the iso
creator has cable internet.

As far as I can understand there is probably no need for volunteers who
download loads of programs and then send them to the iso creator. The
downloading process will go faster if the iso creator downloads them
himself. No matter what way they could send the programs to him it will
still take more time and effort than if he downloads all the programs by
himself.

What he needs are lists of well checked download links, so he can
download the programs in batches with a downloader which can handle lists
of urls.

Well, that is the way I would see things if I was the iso creator. YMMV

 

[Nicolaas Hawkins]

Super, thanks.

Last year three volunteers did the downloading. Would anyone like to
volunteer now for that task? Each download volunteer could download a
portion of the alphabetical list and send the files to Mark.

We'll need volunteer burners. We have one volunteer host for the ISO -
with *limited* downloading capability. Does someone wish to organize a
bit torrent distribution or suggest other possibilities for hosting a PL
ISO?

The goals and procedures should be finalized before I start requesting
authorization from the authors of the programs. In the present draft the
CD distribution procedure is the same as it was for PL2004. The online
distribution procedures need to be discussed and added.

Susan

Susan, did you get my E-Mail?

--
Regards,
Nicolaas.


- We are all one - and that makes it difficult to get replacements.

 

[REM]

We will probably wait until after the first of December to do any
downloading, so that we can get the most recents updates on the CD. I
remember the first one and Ben (I think) got the ball rolling. He
picked a category to download and we went from there. I rather liked
the way it was handled. As Susan mentioned earlier...
"November 14, 2004 - Final Pricelessware List Posted"
All we can do until at least then is PLAN.

Sounds like a plan. I'm dialup, but I have a jump drive and access to
download at high speed. Count me in for grabbing and as a burner
(Texas) this year.

If I recall, Open Office came out with a new release right after the
various parts arrived at Susan's doorstep and were being assembled
last year. A JIT system won't stop things like that, but it can reduce
them to a minimum.

 

[Adrian Carter]

Susan Bugher wrote :

This thread is for discussion of a PL2005 CD.

Please post if you want to volunteer for this project and indicate what
sort of assistance you wish to offer.

I'll volunteer to again burn CDs for anyone in Australia.
I only have dialup, so will arrange to get a master copy
by snail mail when the CD becomes available.

Adrian Carter

adriancarterau (AT) yahoo (DOT) com (DOT) au

 

[Susan Bugher]

Omar© wrote alt.comp.freeware on Fri, 22 Oct 2004 21:00:52 -0400, the
following

We will probably wait until after the first of December to do any
downloading, so that we can get the most recents updates on the CD. I
remember the first one and Ben (I think) got the ball rolling. He
picked a category to download and we went from there. I rather liked
the way it was handled.

Me too. That was Plan B - it was implemented at the last minute. . .

As Susan mentioned earlier...
"November 14, 2004 - Final Pricelessware List Posted"
All we can do until at least then is PLAN.

ISTM the downloading can be started any time - some programs might have
to be downloaded a second time if the version changes. . .

Susan

 

[Mark S.]

Roger Johansson wrote alt.comp.freeware on 23 Oct 2004 04:28:13 GMT, the
following

download loads of programs and then send them to the iso creator. The
downloading process will go faster if the iso creator downloads them
himself. No matter what way they could send the programs to him it will
still take more time and effort than if he downloads all the programs by
himself.

What he needs are lists of well checked download links, so he can
download the programs in batches with a downloader which can handle lists
of urls.

I agree with you Roger! When I downloaded programs to snail mail them
to Susan for the first CD, the majority of my time was spent finding the
actual direct download links rather than the downloading itself. The
biggest help would be voluunteers sending to me the direct links when we
know the final results of the voting.

Mark S.

 

[Susan Bugher]

Mark S. <[email protected]> wrote:

As far as I can understand there is probably no need for volunteers who
download loads of programs and then send them to the iso creator. The
downloading process will go faster if the iso creator downloads them
himself. No matter what way they could send the programs to him it will
still take more time and effort than if he downloads all the programs by
himself.

ISTM that we should try to minimize the amount of work one person has to
do. I think that acf's volunteer projects need to be split into pieces
that are as small as possible => that ideally many people should do a
*little* work to help achieve the goals of the project.

What he needs are lists of well checked download links, so he can
download the programs in batches with a downloader which can handle lists
of urls.

Well, that is the way I would see things if I was the iso creator. YMMV

I agree with "YMMV". Mark should decide what will be easiest for him. I
do have a few comments/suggestions/hindsights to offer. . .

Agreeing on the directory structure *before* the downloads are done will
save time.

last year the three downloaders organized the downloads in three
different ways. I spent some hours doing the final organization:
creating the directory structure, finding and moving the files, checking
the versions that were downloaded against the versions shown on the PL.
.. . .

It would be *very* helpful to have the downloaders "watchdog" the
programs they download. The HTML pages that will be part of the CD show
the versions - that info has to match the programs that were downloaded.

The watchdog effort should continue after the downloaded programs are
sent so that Mark can download the new versions and I can update the
HTML pages.

in fact. . .

Watchdogs would be very nice year round. If updates were *posted* both
Pricelessware sites could benefit from the information.

There are 260+ programs on this year's PL. If 27 volunteers each took
*one* section of the alphanumeric list they would only have to watchdog
about 10 programs. . . Lots of people doing a *little* work. . .

meanwhile. . .

I have added information about the PL2005 CD project to the acf wiki
including: the timetable, the draft of the goals and procedures, a list
of tasks and volunteers.

http://www.markcarter.me.uk/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?PricelesswareCd

ISTM that the wiki is the best place to keep track of project tasks,
volunteers, progress reports. . .

When we have a consensus on the goals and procedures I'll move that info
to the PL2005 web page.

Susan

 

[Mark S.]

Adrian Carter wrote alt.comp.freeware on Sat, 23 Oct 2004 13:54:53 GMT,
the following

I'll volunteer to again burn CDs for anyone in Australia.
I only have dialup, so will arrange to get a master copy
by snail mail when the CD becomes available.

Adrian Carter

Adrian,

I think the person who makes the CD should send one to you. I guess
that would be me. (Susan will get one also.) Sometime before the CD is
complete please send to me your postal address via email. I'll keep it
private.

Mark S.

 

[jo]

I agree with you Roger! When I downloaded programs to snail mail them
to Susan for the first CD, the majority of my time was spent finding the
actual direct download links rather than the downloading itself. The
biggest help would be voluunteers sending to me the direct links when we
know the final results of the voting.

The best way of doing this might be to have a list of apps posted here
in a links thread. Then whoever was up to the task at the time could
provide working links.
The problem is, of course, that seeing a link on a page is no guarantee
of anything, and even establishing that a link is working is no
guarantee that it is necessarily going to the correct app. A link needs
to be found, the app downloaded, and then, often, an install has to be
started to establish one has the correct app.
Even then there can be OS problems...
This is the sort of thing I would be up for when on my broadband
machine, which is about two weeks out of four.

 

[Susan Bugher]

Sounds like a plan. I'm dialup, but I have a jump drive and access to
download at high speed. Count me in for grabbing and as a burner
(Texas) this year.

If I recall, Open Office came out with a new release right after the
various parts arrived at Susan's doorstep and were being assembled
last year. A JIT system won't stop things like that, but it can reduce
them to a minimum.

IIRC it was released the day before I *created* the CD. FWIW Calendar
Magic was the last updated file I downloaded for the CD. See:

http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/2004/PL2004ProgramIndexCD.php?sortby=DescRev

Susan

 

[jo]

Watchdogs would be very nice year round. If updates were *posted* both
Pricelessware sites could benefit from the information.

That's a good idea. It only takes a few out of date links for me to
question the credibility of a site

There are 260+ programs on this year's PL. If 27 volunteers each took
*one* section of the alphanumeric list they would only have to watchdog
about 10 programs. . . Lots of people doing a *little* work. . .

I could do some.

 

[Susan Bugher]

Susan, did you get my E-Mail?

No. Please resend: sebugher (AT) kvi (DOT) net or the PWH links button.

Susan