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SDN-USER.DOC
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1995-02-08
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│
│ SDN Shareware User Kit - Revision #11
│ Guidelines for User Participation
│
│ SDN INTERNATIONAL(sm)
│ Fidonet's Shareware Author's Distribution Network
│
│ Published from The SDN Project, February 1995
│ (c)Copyright 1995 Ray Kaliss - The SDN Project
│
│
│
│
│
│
│
│
│ This document is Copyright The SDN Project 1995 and the property
│ of Ray L. Kaliss as The SDN Project.
│
│ This document in not public domain. It is intended as an
│ informational document for Shareware author's considering
│ distribution via SDN International. This document may be copied
│ whole and unmodified for that intent only.
│
│ Official SDN International Policy is formulated by The SDN Project
│ and published at The SDN Project Bulletin Board in Meriden, CT,
│ U.S.A. 203-634-0370. Policy posted online at The SDN Project
│ supersedes policy in circulation or of earlier date.
Copyright
SDN, The SDN Project, the service mark of SDN International (sm) and
SDNet and the file extensions of .SDN/SDA as used by The SDN Project
are Copyright 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995 by Ray L.
Kaliss and can not be used with out express written permission.
┌──────────────────────────┐
─┘ 1. SDN INTERNATIONAL(sm) └───────────────────────────────
SDN International is Fidonet's Shareware Distribution Network since
January 1989. The trusted and respected pipeline to hundreds of
bulletin boards among Fidonet's 30,000 and growing participating boards
- SDN files are all author-direct.
Beyond that - SDN distributes through satellite, Internet and online
services such as BIX and is always open to other avenues.
SDN reaches all of North America and into Europe such as Switzerland,
Denmark, Germany and further. SDN is imported into the United Kingdom,
Australia, Israel, Puerto Rico and many other countries.
Software distributed by SDN is Shareware for Intel based computers,
usually called 'IBM' or 'MSDOS compatible'. United States Copyright
laws defines shareware as 'Try before you buy'. When you obtain files
by SDN distribution you should read the copyright and license of the
program you have obtained to learn the author's terms of your use of
the author's product. Shareware is a distribution method and you are
expected to use the product for a limited time, set by the authors
terms, and pay the authors asking registration price if you decide you
would like to use the product longer.
┌───────────────────────┐
─┘ 2. WHAT ARE SDN FILES └──────────────────────────────────
SDN files are shareware author's programs that have been sent to SDN
International for processing and distribution to bulletin boards and
online services. Each file is a compression of individual program
files into one archive for easy downloading.
As an example, you might see this type of listing on the BBS you log
into.
FILES SIZE DATE DESCRIPTION
---------------------------------------------------------------------
3MENU10.ARJ 112987 02/15/93 Three-Menu 1.0 easy DOS menu system
MYED410.ARJ 648833 02/15/93 My Editor 4.10 programmers text editor
OLCOM51.SDN 1290000 02/19/93 ON-Line COM 5.1 full featured terminal
NOTE: files with a .SDN extension are older SDN distribution and are
also ARJ compression - use ARJ to decompress.
Each archive file contains an author's complete program in compressed
form. When you download one file you have the complete program ready
to be un-packaged. The file is named to reflect the program and
version number it contains.
SDN files, before the release of ARJ v2.41 (January 1993), could be
decompressed with NoGate Consulting's PAK compression utility. .SDN
files since 1993 can be decompressed using the ARJ 2.41 compression
utility or a newer version. The compression utility named ARJ241.EXE
can be found for downloading on most of the better bulletin boards
where .SDN's are posted.
Each file can be verified for authenticity. It has been secured with
two tamper-proof seals. The first seal can be tested with the ARJ.EXE
test feature.
C:>ARJ T MYED50.ARJ
If it has verified you will see this banner on screen.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ *** Valid ARJ-SECURITY envelope signature: │
│ *** SDN International(sm) SDN#01 R#2417 │
│ │
│ This file is an SDN International(sm) Author-Direct Distribution. │
│ It should be verified for the SDN Security Seal by the FileTest │
│ utility available at The SDN Project AuthorLine BBS 203-634-0370. │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The second seal can be tested either with the FileTest utility by
PaceSoft or SDNTest posted at The SDN Project BBS and most BBS'es where
you find SDN files. If it passes both test you can be assured it is a
genuine author-direct SDN distribution with contents exactly as the
author intended.
C:>FILETEST MYED50.ARJ
or
C:>SDNTEST MYED50.ARJ
If the SDN file also passes FileTest or SDNtest testing.. you can feel
safe to decompress and use the packaged program files. Decompress like
this..
C:>ARJ E MYED50.ARJ
or
C:>ARJ E MYED50.SDN
┌──────────────────────────┐
─┘ 3. WHAT ARE SDN.ID FILES └───────────────────────────────
Inside every SDN there is a pure ASCII text file that you can read to
get a description of the program. The files name is SDN.ID.
XMENU EXE 60123 12-11-93 7:44p
XMENU DOC 123564 12-13-93 12:00p
MENUAPP1 DAT 2345 10-01-93 10:00a
--> SDN ID 1200 10-12-93 1:00p
UTILONE EXE 47567 2-04-93 2:00p
On most BBS'es where you can find SDN files you may also find a message
area in the message base where copies of each program's SDN.ID are
posted. This makes for easy browsing of all the SDN programs posted at
the BBS. What's neat about this is most BBS'es save your place in the
message base when you leave it.. so the next time you login - the
messages in that area that you have not read yet are all new arrivals
since the last time you were on.
┌───────────────┐
─┘ 4. LAST WORDS └──────────────────────────────────────────
Shareware is not free, it is 'Try before you buy'. This means you are
free to try the program and it's features out for a set period of time.
Read the author's information to find out how long. It is usually
about 30 days. If, after that time, you wish to continue using the
software - then you are bound to send the author the required
registration fee. SDN does not assist in registering software ..
contact the author directly.
/eof