Date   : Mon, 07 Nov 1983 14:19:19 EST
From   : Dave Towson (info-cpm) <cpmlist@brl-vgr>
Subject: Information for new list members.

As the new list-maintainer for this list, I have just sent the attached
text to a new list member who requested information concerning the archives
of public domain software.  It occurs to me that perhaps it would be useful
to post this information to the net periodically.  What do you think?  Have
I omitted anything important?  Did I make any mistakes?  Text follows:
                            ----------------------
There is a collossal amount of free public domain CP/M software
in three archives on SIMTEL20, a PDP-20 running TOPS-20 at
White Sands Missile Range.  To get directory listings, crank up FTP
with user-name ANNONYMOUS and password FTP (or any non-null
string) and then do the following:

                get "micro:<cpm>cpm.dirlst" local_file_name
                get "micro:<cpmug>cpmug.dirlst" local_file_name
                get "micro:<sigm>sigm.dirlst" local_file_name
                bye

The first will get you a directory of the archive that was recently moved
from mit-mc.  This is the one to watch for the very latest offerings as it is
updated frequently.  The second is the full offering of the CP/M
Users Group.  It (and the third archive) will be updated as new disks are 
issued.  The third is the full offering of the Special Interest Group for
Microcomputers, a service of the Amateur Computer Group of New
Jersey.  There are many overlaps in the three archives, but you will
find the lastest versions in the <cpm> archive.  In general, the archived
software is very good, having been worked-over and refined by multiple users.
The comments tend to be complete and imformative.  Examples of typical file
retrievals follow:

                get "micro:<cpm.modem7> mdm712.com" mdm712.com
                get "micro:<cpmug.vol001>assign.asm" assign.asm
                get "micro:<sigm.vol001>ad.com" ad.com

All files in the CPMUG and SIGM archives have been stored in a
binary format that had its roots at mit-mc.  To retrieve any of these files
you must use FTP in TENEX mode.  If your FTP server doesn't do
TENEX use type L8 (which does the same thing).  You will have to  
discard the first four bytes from every program you obtain from either of
these archives.  This is because the binary format used for storage has the
identifier DSK8 in sixbit code at the beginning of each file.  To strip
the first four bytes, you can use either your host's utilities or a CP/M
program called ITSCVT.HEX, which can be found in directory
<cpm.hex>.  Files in the <cpm> archive are stored in two formats,
ASCII for DOC, HEX and ASM files, and ITS binary (as 
described above) for COM and "squeezed" files.  Squeezed files have been
compressed using the programs available in directory <cpm.squsq> to obtain
approximately a 35-percent size reduction.  These files, which can be
identified by the letter Q in the filetype field (for example, the file
micro:<cpm.z2doc>z2con.wq is a squeezed file) must be transferred as binary 
files and then unsqueezed.  The unsqueezing can be done on the CP/M
system using USQ-20.COM (or whatever is the current version) from
directory <cpm.squsq>, or there are several host-based unsqueezers in the
<cpm> archive (see for example, directory <cpm.tops20>).  One last comment:
In all of the above examples the quote-characters are there for the benefit
of UNIX users.  Other operating systems may not need (or may have trouble 
with) these quotes.  Happy hacking!


Dave Towson
info-cpm-request@brl-vgr  <-- please note proper machine address