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- PAK 2.50 (C) 1989-90 NoGate Consulting September 20th, 1990 Page 2
-
-
- The Shareware Concept
-
- PAK is distributed as shareware.
- Shareware is commercial software distributed in an unconventional
- manner. Microcomputers copy information very easily. Instead of
- trying to frustrate this through copy protection, shareware takes
- advantage of it to reach as many users as possible at the lowest cost.
- Anyone may copy a shareware program and distribute it to whomever they
- desire, provided they do not charge a fee or alter it.
- Shareware isn't free. Serious shareware is as polished as any
- conventional commercial product, and represents just as much
- programming effort. If you use it regularly, the authors expect
- compensation.
- However, unlike conventional distribution, shareware allows you
- to evaluate the product before you decide to purchase it. The price
- is often lower, as well, because there are no advertising, packaging,
- or distribution costs.
- It can only work with your support. If you are still using a
- shareware product after a couple of weeks, then it is obviously worth
- something to you, and you should register it.
-
-
- Registration and Benefits
-
- There are three editions of the compression routines in PAK
- available. The first is the command line edition, included in the
- evaluation package (of which this file is a part) distributed as
- shareware. Registration of this edition is $15, and entitles you to a
- disk with a copy of PAK registered in your name.
- The second is the full screen edition, also known as PAKF. PAKF
- is a fully windowed program which displays archive contents and file
- directories, and allows easy tagging of files to be compressed or
- extracted. Registration of this edition is $30, and entitles you to a
- disk with both the full screen and command line editions.
- The third, for programmers, is a library of data compression
- routines suitable for inclusion in your own programs. This toolkit
- can be used in practically any application, since all compression is
- done on buffers in memory, not on disk. Programs created with the
- toolkit do not require a royalty so long as they do not compete with
- PAK. For example, you can compress your own program's data, or
- distribute your software in compressed form without royalty. On the
- other hand, a general-purpose archiving, installation, or backup
- utility would require a special licensing agreement.
- Registration of this edition is $75, and entitles you to a disk
- with object files suitable for use with Turbo Pascal, Turbo C,
- Microsoft C, or assembler. The toolkit is usable with OS/2 and
- Windows 3.0. The toolkit disk also includes the other two editions of
- PAK, as well as example programs in Pascal and C.
- To register your copy of PAK, send in a completed copy of the
- enclosed order form, call the NoGate BBS to order via questionnaire,
- or call NoGate Consulting at (616)455-6270.
-
-
- Obtaining Updates
-
- The fastest way for registered users to obtain an update of any
- of the editions of PAK is to call our bulletin board at (616)455-5179.
- The BBS has a 9600 baud US Robotics Dual Standard modem, so any modem
- from 1200 to 9600 baud should work.
- If you have never called the BBS before, you will have to start
- as a new user, even if you are a registered PAK user. This entails
- choosing a password and leaving some information such as your phone
- number and city.
- If you are a registered user, you can download PAK, PAKF, and the
- Toolkit through the Update Door. Before you can do so, however, you
- will have to leave a message to the Sysop asking for access to that
- door.
- If you don't have a modem, or don't want to call our BBS, you can
- call for an update at (616)455-6270, FAX us at (616)455-8491, or send
- us a letter.
- Updates are free from the BBS, and $5.50 by mail within the
- United States or $7 overseas. Updates of the Toolkit from release 1.6
- or earlier are $25.
-
-
- Credits
-
- ARC is a registered trademark of System Enhancement Associates,
- and PKZIP is a registered trademark of PKWare, Inc. NoGate Consulting
- is not associated in any way with System Enhancement Associates or
- PKWare.
-
- We would like to thank several people:
-
- The various authors of the public-domain De-Arc'ing utility, for
- providing insights into the (sometimes very strange) internal workings
- of ARC:
-
- Roy Collins, David W. Carroll, Richard P. Byrne, Robert D. Tolz,
- and Jim North.
-
- We must also credit Terry A. Welch, whose article "A Technique
- for High Performance Data Compression", IEEE Computer Vol 17 No 6
- (June 1984) seems to have started all the research on Lempel-Zev
- coding.
-
- Spencer W. Thomas, Jim McKie, Steve Davies, Ken Turkowski, James
- A. Woods, and Joe Orost, who are the authors of the UNIX compress
- utility.
-
- Ray Kaliss of SDNet/works!, who proposed the Security Envelope
- concept.
-
- And all of the people whose suggestions we added to PAK, such as
- the temporary path, sorting, wildcards for archives, path support, and
- remarks.
-
-
-
- PAK version 2.50 Order Form
- -----------------------------------------------------------------
- Make checks payable to:
- NoGate Consulting
- P.O. Box 88115
- Grand Rapids, MI 49518-0115
- -----------------------------------------------------------------
- Qty
- ___ Command line edition of PAK @ $15 each $______
- ___ Full screen edition of PAK (PAKF) @ $30 each $______
- ___ Programmer's edition of PAK @ $75 each $______
- Subtotal $______
- Michigan residents please add 4% sales tax. $______
-
- Shipping and handling - inside the United States $3.50
- - or -
- - overseas $5.00
-
- Credit Card orders add 3% surcharge $______
-
- Total $______
-
- Diskette type (check or circle one): [ ] 5.25" [ ] 3.5"
-
- Payment: (check or circle one):
- [ ] Check [ ] Money Order [ ] Visa [ ] MasterCard [ ] AmEx
-
- Credit Card #__________________________________________________
-
- Expiration Date _______ Signature ____________________________
-
- Credit Card Orders may be made by phone - (616)455-6270
- or via the NoGate BBS - (616)455-5179
- or via FAX - (616)455-8491
-
- Checks and Money Orders must be drawn on U.S. banks in U.S. funds
- -----------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Name_______________________________________________________
-
- Company_______________________________________________________
-
- Address_______________________________________________________
-
- ______________________________________________________
-
- Phone_________________________ Bus.________________________
-
- Where did you obtain PAK?
-
- _______________________________________________________
-
- Comments_______________________________________________________