Path: menudo.uh.edu!usenet From: fhinf@iraul1.ira.uka.de (Thomas Baetzler) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: Aminet CD-ROM disc, 6/93 Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.applications Date: 14 Jul 1993 14:59:12 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 213 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Distribution: world Message-ID: <221700$17d@menudo.uh.edu> Reply-To: fhinf@iraul1.ira.uka.de (Thomas Baetzler) NNTP-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu Keywords: CD-ROM, collection, freeware, shareware, commercial PRODUCT NAME Aminet CD-ROM disc, 6/93 BRIEF DESCRIPTION A CD-ROM snapshot of the entire Aminet Collection of freely distributable software from the Internet. It also contains the final snapshot of the AB20 Amiga archive as well as the Usenet comp.sources.amiga and comp.binaries.amiga archives. Future editions of this disc will contain only the Aminet Collection. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Walnut Creek CD-ROM Address: 1547 Palos Verdes Suite 260 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 USA Telephone: (800) 786-9907 (510) 674-0783 FAX: (510) 674-0821 E-mail: info@cdrom.com LIST PRICE $24.95 (US). SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS You'll need a CD-ROM drive as well as a suitable filesystem (Asimware AsimCDFS, CPR CDFS, Xetec CDFS, Babel CDFS...) to access the data on the Aminet CD-ROM. Since most of the files on this CD are stored as archives (for example, in "lha" format), you might need an external storage medium for decompressing the files. The necessary software to do this is supplied on the CD-ROM. Some of the programs contained in the archive might require special hardware/software to run. COPY PROTECTION None. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING Testing was done 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. The machine features 1 MB of Chip, 4 MB of 32 and 2 MB of 16 Bit ram. I have not tested this disc on a CDTV or CD32 personally. Jack Velte of Walnut Creek CD-ROM has assured me that this title is CDTV compatible. REVIEW Getting a CD-ROM full of interesting software for the Amiga has become much easier over the last few months. Almathera Software in the UK continued to cater to the needs of the CDTV users, and now Walnut Creek has finally come up with the long promised Aminet CD-ROM. Aminet is actually the name for a network of several FTP sites that stock Amiga Software. Uploads to one Aminet site get (at least theoretically) forwarded to all other sites in the network, providing multiple access points to the same software base. Ever since the demise of the well-known "AB20" ftp site (ab20.larc.nasa.gov), Aminet has been a valuable repository for Amiga software, so it really makes sense to have a CD-ROM snapshot of that site. On Aminet, you can find many things that make your Amiga more powerful, easier to use, and best of all, more fun to use. If you've ever been to an Aminet site, you know what to expect on the CD-ROM, since Walnut Creek has replicated the original directory structure of the site in the /AMINET subdirectory. The top level directories are a rough classification, and subdirectories elaborate on that description. The files themselves are usually accompanied by "Readme" files containing more or less terse descriptions. The files are usually archived with one of the more popular archivers like LhA or LhArc. Some files, especially demos using a dedicated track loader, have been treated with the Disk Masher. This means that you can't run programs directly off the CD-ROM, but it also gives you the opportunity to use the Aminet CD in your mailbox. To this end, each directory contains directory listings in "FILES.BBS", "WILDCAT.TXT" and "00_INDEX.TXT" files. This should insure compatibility to most mayor BBS systems. To unpack archived files, you could use any of the programs provided in the /TOOLS directory, if you don't have them already installed somewhere on your system. Using a file utility like SID or DirOpus greatly facilitates browsing and unarchiving. Actually, browsing through the files on the Aminet CD can be lots of fun. Even if you're a regular user of Aminet, you'll discover many fascinating items you've never noticed before. For instance, you could take a look at some of the people who started and support Aminet, since their portraits are available in PIX/IRC. Or you could listen to some of the songs that are archived in the MOD directory. Even if the possibilities are limited, you'll take a lot of time to sample them all. As a pack-in bonus, this first release of the Aminet CD-ROM also contains the old AB20 collection witch such diverse goodies as a lot of Eric Schwartz animations, and such. Since Aminet can be expected to grow quite a bit in the near future, this archive will not be included in upcoming updates. The disc is mastered in ISO-9660 Mode 2 format, which means that the original UNIX filenames of the archives had to be to converted to all-uppercase. Still, this is much better than having to resort to Mode 1 with it's MS-DOS style "8.3" filenames. DOCUMENTATION The Aminet CD-ROM booklet contains just the barest minimum information about the contents of the disc. While a text file in the top level directory points out that most of the data on the disc is in compressed format, there are no detailed instructions given of how to use these files. Amiga novices (i.e., the intended CDTV clientele) might need help using the disc. The individual archives on the CD-ROM are accompanied by "readme" files detailing their contents. Depending on who uploaded the file to Aminet, this might be a full description, or only one line. LIKES AND DISLIKES One improvement I would suggest to the makers of the Aminet CD is that they include some file management utility on the disc, thus facilitating the access to the data for novice users. Another thing I'd like to see would be the inclusion of fully installed preconfigured software. One likely candidate for such a treatment would be PasTeX (an Amiga implementation of TeX). You could have binaries and computed fonts on the CD, and thus save some megabytes of HD space. COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS As an Amiga archive CD-ROM, I can only compare this disc to Almathera's 17 Bit collection. Apart from the differences in content, I prefer the organisation of the Aminet CD over that of the latter. If you want something particular, you usually know where to search for it. Also, since most of the files in the Aminet archives are compressed using file compressors, you can unpack directly to RAM: or a hard drive. The 17 Bit CD stores all files in DMS format, so you can only unpack to floppy disks. Also, you have to use their proprietary file selection menu to find a particular archive. While this "disk creator" might be an interesting feature for novices, I really hate being forced to take a detour to get at the data I want. VENDOR SUPPORT Walnut Creek have announced quarterly updates of the disc, selling for $19.95/quarter plus postage and handling The company operates an Internet FTP site, ftp.cdrom.com. It has lots of interesting information concerning CD-ROMs, as well as index files of all their CD-ROMs. My personal experience with Walnut Creek has been very good. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can always contact them via email. WARRANTY Walnut Creek offer full guarantee, so that you can return the CD-ROM for a full refund if you are dissatisfied with it for any reason. CONCLUSIONS I'm very happy with my very own Aminet archives at home. Now I can play and test with all those files I was always too lazy to download directly. :-) Also, the proposed quarterly updates will always keep my collection up to date. I would rate the Aminet CD-ROM 4.5 out of 5 stars. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 1993 Thomas Baetzler. All rights reserved. You can contact me at: Medic BSS, 2:241/7454.2@fidonet (safest way?) fhinf@iraul1.ira.uka.de (until October 1993) s_walter@irav1.ira.uka.de (will be forwarded to me) Thomas Baetzler, Herrenstr. 62, 76133 Karlsruhe, FRG Voice: ++49 (0)721 29872 Medic BBS: ++49 (0)721 496821 --- Daniel Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu Moderator mail: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu Anonymous ftp site: math.uh.edu, in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews