Date   : Thu, 31 Jan 1985 07:22:00 MST (Thu)
From   : Keith Petersen <W8SDZ@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Subject: ITS-binary files on SIMTEL20 - pro and con

The original purpose of the so-called ITS-binary file, with its
four-byte header, was so that people using the MIT "ITS" operating
system would be able to tell the difference between BINARY and ASCII
files (the operating system has no such built-in feature).

It appears that putting this four-byte header on all our
MICRO:<CPM.xxx> binary files is causing problems for people on other
operating systems who must strip the first four bytes.

The question is:  Should all of the rest of the net users have to work
out this extra step (sometimes requiring special programs to do it).
I think not.

The solution, it seems to me, is for someone at MIT to write a special
version of FTP that will add the special ITS-binary header on any
BINARY file that is FTPed.  This would require the FTP to be able to
query the sending end as to what the file type is: ASCII or BINARY.

I hope we can do away with ITS-binary files soon.  They're a real pain
to have to explain to every new user.

--Keith