From:	"A.Appleyard" <A DOT APPLEYARD AT fs2 DOT mt DOT umist DOT ac DOT uk>
To:	DJGPP AT SUN DOT SOE DOT CLARKSON DOT EDU
Date:	Fri, 14 Apr 1995 17:02:10 BST
Subject:	Distributing djgpp (or any other large package)

  djgpp is a big package, and the version I have needs 28 3.5inch floppies.
But many people don't want the compiler etc sources, or the auxiliary stuff
like Bison etc etc, only enough to compile and run C and C++ programs
(compiler, libraries, etc), which I managed to fit onto 7 floppies. But the
various alternatives seem to run into difficulties:-

  (1) Each user should load it from Simtel.
	The FTP is very often very slow due to the internet being busy, and
remote sites are often logged-in full and I keep getting told to login again
later.
  (2) Each user should FTP it from his local site's FTP server.
	If it has one, if it has djgpp. A lot don't or haven't.
  (3) The site distributes it on 28 floppies.
	That many floppies take ages to format and write to, then to read from
and unzip, for each person who wants a copy.
  (4) The site distributes the abovementioned subset on 7 floppies.
	Less floppy handling load, but it runs into the Gnu Public Licence,
which says that djgpp must be distributed complete.

  May I suggest another way, cheaper than setting up a FTP server? Let the
site (university or whatever) keep djgpp etc on a notebook PC, already
unzipped if there is hard disk room for it; and also LAPLINK. If Mr.X wants
djgpp (or whatever), someone takes the laptop, and a laplink connecter cable,
and a floppy with LAPLINK on, to Mr.X's office, and thus copies in as much or
little of djgpp (or whatever) as Mr.X wants. A file server in a backpack!
  Laplink is far faster than floppies: I saw it being used to copy 120 meg of
files from my old PC to my new PC (both desktops), and it went FAR faster and
easier then copying in floppyfuls.

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