

         Useful   MSDOS   Programs   at   SIMTEL20   and   Garbo
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
         ****   The Ultimate Guide to MSDOS Archive Files   ****

Version: 2.6  April 29, 1993

Compiled by Samuel Ko (sko@wimsey.bc.ca)

This is a good selection of the "best" sharewares and freewares that are
available from SIMTEL20 (wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) - the largest depository
of MSDOS files - and Garbo (garbo.uwasa.fi) - a good alternative to SIMTEL20.

This list contains many commonly-and-frequently-wanted sharewares/freewares/
public domain programs. So, before you post any requests for ftp'able MSDOS
files in comp.archives.msdos.d, comp.binaries.ibm.pc.wanted or other msdos/pc
newsgroups, please try to read the list first. This will help reduce the
traffic in those groups a bit. Besides you might find some other interesting
stuff here.

As it is more convenient to ftp files from SIMTEL20's mirror sites than
SIMTEL20 itself, so I use the directories of oak.oakland.edu (the most
up-to-date mirror site) instead. Besides, many other SIMTEL20's mirror sites
actually mirror files from oak.oakland.edu.

If you want to use the parent site (SIMTEL20) or other mirror sites (e.g.
wuarchive.wustl.edu), please change the path name accordingly. Here is how
to do it:  (`whatever' is the name of subdirectory to be substituted)

oak: /pub/msdos/whatever = SIMTEL20: pd1:<msdos.whatever>
                         = wuarchive: /mirrors/msdos/whatever

Please note that garbo is mirrored in N. America at wuarchive. Therefore
garbo: /pc/whatever = wuarchive: /mirrors/garbo.uwasa.fi/whatever

For info on other SIMTEL20 and Garbo mirror sites, please see Appendix 1.

If you do not have ftp access, please read Appendix 2 for instructions
on how to obtain most of the files listed below by e-mail.

Thanks to all who have helped in improving the list. However, to save
some bandwidth, I do not want to include a long list (over 200 names) of
acknowledgment. I do sincerely thank each and every one of you who has
contributed to this compilation in one way or the other. So, this collection
is the product of the combined wisdom of many netnews readers and archive
users. (yes, errors and shortcomings are my responsibility :-)

Any further comments and suggestions will be very much appreciated. I am
particularly interested in any programs that you think are better than those
listed below.

The list should be (more or less) accurate as of April 28, 1993. However, as
the world of archive files is rapidly changing, many entries here may be
dated soon. So, please read the newsgroup comp.archives.msdos.announce or
consult the index files of the archive sites to keep yourself informed of the
latest uploads and changes.

I will try to update and post this regularly.

General format of an entry:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Program:  Name and/or Description
Version:  The latest release
Upload Date:  The date the program was uploaded to SIMTEL20 or oak
File:  The name of the file that corresponds to the program
Size:  The size of the archive file
Location:  The directory from which the file can be found
Status:  Shareware / Freeware Info
         Shareware - copyrighted (or patented) programs distributed and sold
         on a "try before you buy" basis.
         Freeware - copyrighted programs which do not require compensation
         for use in most cases.
         Public Domain - free from copyrights; open to use by anyone
         without compensation.
Comment:  My comment and supplementary info
Alternative:  Other similar program
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents:

Part I
------
* Trivia ...
* Section A:  Application Programs
* Section B:  Compression / Decompression Programs
* Section C:  Utilities
   Area 1:  4DOS
   Area 2:  Disk Utilities
   Area 3:  Directory Utilities
   Area 4:  File / Text Utilities

  Part II
  -------
   Area 5:  Screen Utilities
   Area 6:  System Utilities
   Area 7:  Other Utilities
* Section D:  Anti-Virus Programs
* Section E:  Editors
* Section F:  Communication Programs
* Section G:  Miscellaneous Files
--
* Appendix 1:  Mirror Sites
* Appendix 2:  Obtaining files by e-mail
* Appendix 3:  Getting upload announcements by e-mail
* Appendix 4:  How to do anonymous ftp?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trivia ...
1) purposes ?
   This is a collection of many useful, common, and popular sharewares,
   freewares, and public domain programs ... It will (I hope) give you
   (especially those who are new to the world of archive files) a good idea
   on the range of files and programs you can obtain from major DOS ftp
   sites ...

2) "useful" ?
   a) most of the programs listed below should enhance DOS in one way or
      another ...
   b) most of them should work on any DOS-based computers (from XTs to
      486s, from monochrome to SVGA, etc ...)
   c) most of them can be run by intuition, i.e. you don't have to read
      the manuals pages after pages to get the programs started ...
      "If an experienced user who is not familiar with the particular
      program is still practically stuck after the first ten minutes, the
      user interface of a PD or a shareware program is unacceptable, however
      good and useful the application may otherwise be." - Timo Salmi
   d) most of them should be relatively bug-free ...
   e) most of them are "scholarly" (i.e. no games or gif files) ...
      the manuals pages after pages to get the programs started ...

3) to get this compilation ? ...
   a) you're reading it now ... so, save it ... :-)
   b) this compilation and a hypertext version are archived at SIMTEL20
      and Garbo (and, of courses, their mirror sites) ...
      e.g.  oak.oakland.edu: /pub/msdos/info/useful26.zip
            garbo.uwasa.fi: /pc/filelist/useful26.zip
   c) the plain text version can also be obtained from the ftp sites
      archiving news.answers articles ...
      e.g. rtfm.mit.edu:  /pub/usenet/news.answers/msdos-archives/part1
           (18.70.0.226)  /pub/usenet/news.answers/msdos-archives/part2
                          /pub/usenet/news.answers/msdos-archives/diff

4) my top 20 ...
    1)  pkz204g.exe              11)  fff43.zip
    2)  qedit215.zip             12)  asa55c-{1,2}.zip
    3)  pklte115.zip             13)  arj230ng.exe (+ arj239*.exe)
    4)  list77a.zip              14)  pgp22.zip
    5)  fv143.zip                15)  simibm.zip (+ simdir22.zip)
    6)  tm400-{1,2,3,4}.zip      16)  explo210.zip
    7)  msker312.zip             17)  shez89.zip
    8)  gsz1109.zip              18)  lha213.exe
    9)  scanv102.zip             19)  cal26.zip
   10)  4dos402p.zip             20)  fgrep172.zip




























