Hello Michiel,

WvV>>>> For storage it also has it's advantages:
WvV>>>> - Less space used.

Not only space, but als transportation costs and time.
OffLine compression (ZIP) is always mucht better than online, i.e. NMP/V42.

MvdV>>> Mwah.. The ENTIRE Fidonews archive from day 1 till today is
MvdV>>> less than 100Mb uncompressed. Less than 0,25% of my smallest
MvdV>>> Hard Drive. Try to buy a HD smaller than 40GB these days.

Many are using old HD's.

WvV>> You shouldn't just store fidonews in compressed form, but all your
WvV>> files as much as possible, than it matters.

MvdV> Then use the OS's disk compression instead of compression each fikle
MvdV> individually.

That changes the compression format every OS change.
Better use a standard that is used very often, such as ZIP, or RAR.
Zip works at almost every machine and OS.
Dos, OS2, Windows, Apple MacOS, RISC OS, Linux etc.

MvdV>>> Plus that nothing stops anyone from using their preferred
MvdV>>> compression for archiving purposes.

WvV>> That argument also works the other way arround. Nothing stops you (or
WvV>> anyone else), to decompress the received zip file, and store it
WvV>> uncompressed.

MvdV> That is extra work for me...

Only the first time to make an automatically operated batch file,
like I did/do for Y2K checking and correction:

REM D:\FD\FXPKTDAT.BAT
D:
CD D:\FD\INBOUND
PKUNZIP *.MO? -ED -O
PKUNZIP *.TU? -ED -O
PKUNZIP *.WE? -ED -O
PKUNZIP *.TH? -ED -O
PKUNZIP *.FR? -ED -O
PKUNZIP *.SA? -ED -O
PKUNZIP *.SU? -ED -O
FOR %%I IN (%1) DO D:\FD\Y2K\PKTDATE -c -l2 -LD:\FD\FD.LOG -p31y -f1 -S %%I
DEL *.MO?
DEL *.TU?
DEL *.WE?
DEL *.TH?
DEL *.FR?
DEL *.SA?
DEL *.SU?
MOVE *.Y2K D:\FD\INBOUND\POST
CD D:\FD\IMAIL

It is running here for more than 17 years after every poll and unpacking!
So you can automate that too ;-).

MvdV> Let those who want the (percieved) advantage of compression
MvdV> carry the burden.

The compression is made by the hatcher of the file in the FileEchoArea?
And I think (s)he does that automatically too.

WvV>>>> That would break the chronological order of the files when you
WvV>>>> list a directory with FNEWS (zip)files alphabetically (which
WvV>>>> most filesystems do).

MvdV> So what? What is the advantage of chronological order over alphabetical
MvdV> order?

Some people think in time, others in alphabet.
And more eastwards in Chinese or Yapanese characters, we do not understand.

MvdV>>> Do as I do, store each year in a sperate directory.
WvV>> That's extra work, and not necessary currently.
MvdV> On the contrary, it makes it much easier to retrieve old issues.

When looking for something you did not know the year,
you have to change year for year every search.
In my RISC OS, I can display files by Name, Type, Size and Date.
The Name and Date are the most used display versions.
Even in DOS you can do that by parameters, piping or redirecting.

WvV>> That's apples and oranges. License plates are never stored in a
WvV>> directory where they can be sorted alphabetical/chronological.

MvdV> https://preview.tinyurl.com/y9lqkuqj

Nice file, but I am missing the part between 2008 and 2018.
When I was jung, I did remember the change every so years,
but since the second run of the 3 letter 3 figure car plates,
I lost the order, i.e. which combination is which year.
After more runs of 3L, 3F combinations, we got 1F, 3L, 2F,
or 2F, 3L, 1F, etc.  Once I saw the nice one: 1-TZT-99.
Wich six characters you can keep it compact, in stead of Belgian cars
from many start wich 1 and some king got all the fines ;-).
And secondly some old cars which are imported here later, they get the latest
new car plates as is then currently used.
So when I see other VW Lupo 3L cars here,
they are mostly the second hand imported ones. The old ones were old club
members. I donot go to that 3L Lupo club anymore, as that costs me too much
energy because of my slowly increasing health restrictions ;-(.
Sorry, but that's life.

Henri.

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