Subject: REVIEW: Source Code CD-ROM disc, March 1992 edition
From: [email-masked] (Reviewer with no e-mail address)
Date: 15 Feb 1993 00:39:36 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

[MODERATOR'S NOTE:  This review is by Thomas Baetzler, who does
	not currently have an e-mail address.  He may be reached on FidoNet
	on the Medic BBS, 2:241/7509.2, or by mail:
		Thomas Baetzler, Herrenstr. 62, 7500 Karlsruhe, FRG.
	- Dan]

PRODUCT NAME

        Source Code CD-ROM disc, March 1992 edition

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

        A data CD-ROM containing the source code to over 600 MB of
freely-distributable programs, taken from various Internet archive sites.
Most of the source code is written in C.

AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

	Name:		Walnut Creek CDROM

	Address:	1547 Palos Verdes Mall
	                Suite 260
	                Walnut Creek, CA 94596

	Telephone:	(800) 786-9907
			(510) 947-5996
	Fax:		(510) 947-1644

	You may download product information by ftp, including pricelists
and catalogs, from cdrom.com (192.153.46.254).

LIST PRICE

	Suggested retail price is $39.95 (US).

	[MODERATOR'S NOTE:  If you are the author of any software on this
	CD-ROM, Walnut Creek will send you a free copy of the disc.  In
	addition, Walnut Creek occasionally announces special pricing for
	people on USENET; for example, buy one copy, and get additional
	copies for half price.  - Dan]

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

        You'll need a CD-ROM drive as well as a suitable driver to read this
disc.

COPY PROTECTION

        None.

MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

	The Source Code CD-ROM is used regularly on an A2500/030 running OS
2.04, using a GVP Series II host adapter, a NEC CDR 74 CD-ROM drive, and
Asimware's AsimCDFS.  I have not tested this disc on a CDTV.

REVIEW

	The Source Code CD-ROM (SCCD) is mastered using ISO 9660 Level 1
format and should thus be compatible with all Amiga and PC CD-ROM
filesystems.

	It contains a large collection of miscellaneous MS/DOS source code,
the SIMTEL-20 Unix-C archive, and last but not least a "USENET" directory
that contains the archives of the alt.sources and the comp.sources.* 
newsgroups.  [MODERATOR'S NOTE:  This includes alt.sources.amiga and
comp.sources.amiga.  - Dan]

	Each of the three main sections features its own storage mechanism:
the MS/DOS files are compressed using ZIP, while TAR archives prevail in the
"UNIX_C" directory.  The UseNet sourcecodes aren't packed at all, but just
saved as they were posted: mostly multipart shar files.

	While the original PKAZip sometimes had problems decoding a
particular compression scheme of the MS/DOS ZIP files, the less comfortable
UnZip 5.1 worked fine for me. TAR files are best tackled with GNU Tar these
days -- at least if you've got OS 2.04 or newer installed.  Older ports of
Tar did not work for me.  [MODERATOR'S NOTE:  Several versions of "unshar"
exist for the Amiga on Fish Disks to unpack shar archives too.  I use Unshar
1.3 by Eddy Carroll from Fish Disk 345, modified slightly to skip whitespace
at the beginning of lines.  - Dan]

	Since the disc is clearly a multi-system effort, there's no special
Amiga support included -- but the potential customer should not be daunted
by this.  [MODERATOR'S NOTE:  Many of these programs compile on the Amiga
with little effort.  - Dan]

	The only way for finding a program for a particular task is to grep
[search] the supplied index-file for a keyword.  Be sure to examine all
listed entries, since there are sometimes quite a lot of different versions
of the same programs around!  I found the organization of the SCCD to be
straightforward, and I had no problems whatsoever finding things I was
looking for.

DOCUMENTATION

	None.

LIKES AND DISLIKES

	The SCCD can be lots of fun for programmers, like when you browse
through old entries to alt.sources: you'll never believe how many weird,
useless and downright funny programs there are.  If you're looking for things
to port over to the Amiga, you'll find them there.

BUGS

	The directory /USENET/COMPSRC/AMIGA/VOLUME08/DOS is trashed: The
file "DOSDEV.C" is really "COMMAND.C" from a DME distribution.  According to
Walnut Creek, this error is contained in the original archive site from
where they drew their master. Since the missing file dates back to some time
in 1987, one really can live with that.

CONCLUSIONS

	The Source Code CD-ROM is a great resource for programmers, giving
immediate access to tons of usable C code.  Although the emphasis is on Unix
and MS/DOS, there's plenty of usable programs for the Amiga, too.

	If you are a programmer, and you've been looking for your very own
software archive -- here it is!

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

	Copyright 1993 Thomas Baetzler.  All rights reserved.

	Sorry, I do not have a working email address at the moment.

	You can contact me on FidoNet on Medic BBS, 2:241/7509.2
	  Thomas Baetzler, Herrenstr. 62, D7500 Karlsruhe, FRG
	   Voice: ++49 (0)721 29872  Data: ++49 (0)721 694986
---

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