MAC.ARCHIVE.UMICH.EDU STATEMENT OF POLICY Last modified March 21, 1994 This document has been created in an effort to write the previously unwritten rules followed by the archivists of mac.archive.umich.edu (hereafter "mac.archive" or "the archive"). This document is intended to be complete, but it may be updated or modified at any time by the archivists (hereafter "we" or "us") of mac.archive without notice. SUBMISSIONS We will archive any and all items that will function on a Macintosh or that are related to a Macintosh, with the exceptions noted below. While all of the archivists actively seek new and interesting items from outside sources, for the most part we depend on the submissions of others for the contents of the archive. Any file not found in the archive may be requested, and we will do our best to locate it, but we cannot guarantee the availability of any file. DESCRIPTIONS OF FILES All submitters are encouraged to submit a brief description of every file, but they are not required to do so. We will use such a description in the entry for the file in /mac/00help/index.txt (hereafter "the index"). In the absence of a suitable description, the archivists will write one, usually based on information contained within a readme file, if present. All descriptions are intended to be as accurate as possible within the space constraints of the index; any inaccurate or misleading descriptions will be suitably modified as soon as they are pointed out to us. We make every effort to retain any information sent to us regarding a submission. This information is generally stored at the beginning of the BinHexed file, before the start of the BinHex data. DECOMPRESSING FILES All submissions are downloaded and translated out of any compression format(s) (hereafter "decompressed") before being added to the archive in compressed form. Any file that cannot be decompressed will be be rejected pending a resubmission that can be successfully decompressed. FILE NAMES With few exceptions, files are archived bearing a name of the form filename1.01.cpt.hqx. For each file, "filename" is replaced by the actual name of the file *after* it is decompressed. The name under which a file is submitted is not relevant and will never be assumed to be correct. If a submission contains more than one primary file, it will be archived under the name judged by the archivist to be most important and/or relevant, and the other file or files will be mentioned in the index description. If the true name of a submission contains non-alphanumeric characters (including but not restricted to spaces, periods, exclamation points and question marks), they will be omitted from the name of the file when archived. If a file requires another program for its use (example: a file called "Database" that requires FileMaker to be accessed), the name of the required program may be placed at the head of the name as archived (example: filemakerdatabase.cpt.hqx). If the true name of a file ends in a numeral, that numeral may be spelled out in the archived file name if it is likely to create confusion with the version number. A version number, if present, comes directly after the filename. All decimal points following the first are omitted. When possible, version numbers will be determined from information in the file's Get Info box; version numbers indicated by the submitter will never be assumed to be correct. The standard three-letter abbreviations for the compression format or formats relevant to the file are appended to the end of the archived file name, with a period preceding each of at most two formats. If the archived file name exceeds 31 characters when created according to the above rules, the true file name should be abbreviated in a manner judged to be appropriate to the archivist so that the archive file name does not exceed 31 characters. Filenames never contain upper case characters. FILES THAT CRASH The archivists will make every effort to ensure that no submission will cause a downloader serious problems. In most cases, "serious problems" entails a system crash ("bomb"), but may cover a host of problems including but not restricted to the loss or corruption of data. All executable files will be executed to verify that, at the very least, the application does not immediately crash. All HyperCard stacks will be executed using the latest version of HyperCard, which is 2.1 at this writing. All documents will be viewed in some sort of word processor. For other types of files, all attempts will be made to ensure some basic sort of functionality, but the archivists do not have access to every software and hardware combination that a submission may require for proper functioning. Rather than penalize users for the deficiencies of the archivists, we will accept such untestable submissions on the word of the submitter if they conform to the other requirements listed in this document. Note that each archivist has a system that may be configured differently from each other and from each other. The determination of any archivist with regards to the tendency of any submission to cause a "serious problem" is final. DELETION OF FILES In general, files added to the archive will remain available for a long time, which currently is in the range of several years. Any file determined to be corrupted or otherwise damaged will be removed immediately upon such determination. The main archivist (currently "mike@mac.archive.umich.edu") may remove very large or very old files at any time without warning or notice. All files so removed are stored on tape. If you need a file that has been removed from the archive, notify the main archivist; there is a possibility that it can be restored. VIRUSES All submissions are screened for viruses using the latest version of a popular virus-detection program, usually (but not restricted to) Disinfectant. COMPRESSION FORMATS Acceptable formats for compressed archives are limited to StuffIt (all versions) and Compact Pro for Macintosh-executable files. Programs intended to be executed on another platform, including but not restricted to UNIX, may be archived in a format native to that platform. Any file intended for use on a Macintosh submitted in another format will be converted without notice to the submitter into either Compact Pro or StuffIt format. For space concerns, files submitted in StuffIt 1.5.1 format may be converted to StuffIt 3.0 or Compact Pro format at the discretion of the archivist and without notice to the submitter. All binary files are stored in BinHex format to facilitate transfer over the Net. Text files may be stored as text files with no compression. The compression format of every file is indicated in the index. SELF-EXTRACTING ARCHIVES With the exceptions noted below, self-extracting archives are not accepted. Any file submitted as a self-extracting archive will be converted without notice to the submitter to its non-self-extracting counterpart if submitted as a Compact Pro or StuffIt self-extracting archive. Any self-extracting archive generated by another program will be converted to a StuffIt or Compact Pro archive without notice to the submitter. The sole exceptions are compression programs themselves, which may be submitted in their native self- extracting format. It is the opinion that anyone who can figure out how to download a file can figure out how to download the appropriate decompression application stored in /mac/util/compression/. Self-extracting archives therefore serve no purpose, yet occupy additional disk space in the archive and require longer download times. COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE Commercial software will not be accepted for archiving at mac.archive. Every effort is made to determine the commercial status of any submission, regardless of the claims or beliefs of the submitter in this regard. Such submissions will be rejected with a stern notice to the submitter and further action may be taken if deemed appropriate. Items of questionable provenance, including but not restricted to most submissions lacking readme files, will be assumed to be commercial and will be rejected with a notice to the submitter. Any commercial software archived through the misunderstanding or ignorance of an archivist will be removed as soon as it is indicated to be commercial. For the purposes of this document, commercial software includes all software that may not be freely distributed, including but not restricted to prerelease versions and private documents. APPLE SOFTWARE All software produced by Apple Computer, Inc. is commercial software, and as such is generally ineligible for archiving at mac.archive.umich.edu. Some Apple-copyrighted software may be archived if it is submitted as part of a larger group of files including a readme stating that the software in question was properly licensed for distribution from Apple. The readme file also must also contain a clear statement of Apple's licensing and copyright restrictions. Some Apple software is also available by anonymous ftp from ftp.apple.com. THE UMICHLICENSED DIRECTORY The files in /mac/misc/umichlicensed are commercial programs licensed for use at the University of Michigan. These files are visible by anonymous ftp, but they are not accessible by anonymous ftp. To get to them, you need to be able to authenticate as a member of the University of Michigan community. If you need help accomplishing this, call 764-HELP. UPDATES All programs (hereafter "updaters") whose sole purpose it to update another program are stored in the /mac/misc/update directory. This includes both updaters for commercial programs and updaters for other programs in the archive. If we receive an updater for a program already in the archive, we will run the updater on that program and rearchive the updated version as well as the updater. COPYRIGHTS The archivists interpret United States copyright law as stating that all published works are protected by copyright for a period of seventy-five (75) years. Published works include conventional works such as books, movies, recordings, etc., as well as computer software. The author may relinquish copyright protection on any software by stating that the software is in "public domain." In the absence of such a statement, it is our assumption that all software is protected by copyright. For an excellent article on this subject, refer to _Macworld_, May 1994, p. 124. GIFS, SOUNDS, QUICKTIME MOVIES, ETC. As described in the section on copyrights, all items published in the last seventy-five (75) years are assumed to be protected by copyright. Scans of copyrighted materials, recordings of copyrighted sounds, QuickTime of copyright movies are illegal and will be rejected with a note to the submitter. Because of the difficulty in determining provenance, we will rarely accept graphics, sounds, or QuickTime of any form. FONTS A font is a type of computer program, and as such is protected by copyright. Any font converted for use on a Macintosh from another hardware platform or any font converted from TrueType to PostScript formats (or vice versa) will be viewed as modified software and treated as such. MODIFIED SOFTWARE No software may be modified without permission of the author(s) unless such software has been released into the public domain. Submissions of such software will be rejected with a note to the submitter. FILES UNRELATED TO THE MACINTOSH In a very broad sense, one could state that any text file will "function" on a Macintosh. Similarly, it is a trivial matter to "wrap" a text file in either an executable Macintosh viewer, in a HyperCard stack, or in another sort of "wrapper." In this era of electronic information exchange, there are literally gigabytes (if not terabytes) of data readily available in some sort of form that could be accessed through the Macintosh. Except in extreme cases of general-purpose utility, information files without a direct relevence to the Macintosh will not be accepted for inclusion in these archives. Information files need not necessarily be restricted to text-only format. UNLIMITED POWER OF ARCHIVISTS Despite attempts in this document to address all possible contingencies, the archivists expect that there there will be submissions that do not fall into any of the categories above. Similarly, the archivists expect that there will be occasional exceptions to the policies detailed in this document. Because of these unforseeable circumstances, the archivists at mac.archive.umich.edu reserve the right to reject any file for any reason, with or without notice to either the submitter or the author of said file. The archivists will not be held responsible for any real or perceived loss caused by our failure to accept a file. APPEALS OF DECISIONS MADE BY ARCHIVISTS Because the archivists are human, we sometimes make erroneous decisions. Anyone who wishes to question a decision made by the archivists should contact us at the address below. Objections posed as polite queries may generate a more positive response than those posed in an abusive, argumentative or threatening manner. Any correspondence relating to these policies or any other matters concerning the operation of the archive should be directed to comments@mac.archive.umich.edu. THE ARCHIVISTS ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR DAMAGE CAUSED BY FILES RETRIEVED FROM THE ARCHIVES AT MAC.ARCHIVE.UMICH.EDU. BinHex, Compact Pro, Disinfectant, Gif, HyperCard, Mac, Macintosh, PostScript, QuickTime, StuffIt, TrueType, and UNIX are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.