Re: Crypto CD UpDate (fwd)

[Jim Choate <ravage@ssz.com>]

Forwarded message:

> It pains me to often be the one who throws cold water on what seems to be a
> good idea, and what comes from a well-intentioned person. But I have to
> call 'em as I see 'em. And maybe I'm wrong. But here are my thoughts.

You know you love it...;)

> 1. The CD-ROM "freezes" the various programs, archives, etc. at the moment
> the files are finalized and the CD-ROMs are pressed (or burned individually
> on a CD-R, at somewhat higher per-copy price). If the author of the CD-ROM
> is not committed to updating the CD-ROM at frequent intervals--say, every
> few months--then the programs will exhibit "version decay" and be nearly
> useless.
> The next point is the reason.

I do soho consulting and I help provide several of my customers with
software of various nature. One thing I have come to realize is that they
are not interested in being in the fast lane. They are secure in knowing
that the software behaves in a predicible way (not necessarily designed that
way either). A large part of this attitude is based in their not being
computer anything sorts. I find CD's a great way to keep libraries of old
software that sometimes comes in handy.

> 2. The Web does a better job at making the latest versions instantly
> accessible. True, a CD-ROM will generally have faster access, but I care
> more about getting the _latest_ version of PGP, even if takes a minute or
> two to snarf off the Web. That I could get an _older_ version of PGP in
> fractions of a second off this CD-ROM is not compelling to me. (And
> fractions of a second is too charitable: in actuality, I'd have to locate
> the CD-ROM, dismount anything already mounted, mount the CD-ROM, search it
> for "PGP," etc. Probably not even faster than using Alta Vista and
> downloading.)

Yes, except it is much easier to track my access to the web than my CD-Rom.

> 4. The Web approach allows powerful search engines, links from other pages,
> and--importantly--multiple jurisdictions. The PGP could come from the U.S.,
> the Digital Postage code from Sweden, and so on. And, again as noted in #
> 1, the developers could keep improving and iterating the code.

CD's are great advertising.