PDA
Instructions
The Public Download Area contains an assortment of programs and utilities,
including communications programs, file viewers, compression software,
uudecoders, HTML authoring tools, and much more. It does NOT contain
games, pictures, or any sort of programs not related to CCN or the Internet.
Try a local BBS for those types of programs.
Some points to keep in mind:
- CCN is in no way responsible if you get a virus from any program
here, so download at your own risk. These files have come from reputable FTP
sites that do extensive virus checking, but that's not a guarantee. There
are virus checkers here that you can use yourself, but there's no guarantee
they're virus free themselves. It's highly recommended that you check every
file you get from the PDA, either with your own program or one of the ones
available here.
- Since this is a Community Network, there is a bias here toward Public
Domain and Freeware, but there is some Shareware as well. It is
important to realize the distinction:
- Public Domain software may be freely distributed, copied, and even
modified.
- Freeware may be freely distributed and copied, but the source code
still belongs to the author, and may not be modified or reused without
the consent of the author.
- Shareware is in *no* way free. It is distributed for evaluation
purposes only, and if you use it, you must pay the original author for it
(usually called "registering"). The process of registering shareware varies,
but details can normally be found within the program's documentation.
- Be aware that these files are sometimes quite large and may take a long
time to download, even with a fast modem. Generally speaking, they
cannot be broken down into smaller pieces, because that would be in
violation of the original author's distribution instructions.
However, there is a solution. If your comm program supports the Zmodem
download protocol (and most do) then you can use it to get a large file
over several different logins. Zmodem has a special feature that allows
it to resume a file transfer if it is interrupted. There should be an option
somewhere in your software settings that enables this feature. Once it's
on, you can download as much of a file as possible, then log in again
later and get the rest of it.
- Unless otherwise noted, none of these programs are supported by the
User Support Team, although the volunteers there will make an effort to
deal with any problems you might have.
Each program in the PDA has a description explaining what it is, what
it does, features, etc., and whether it is shareware, freeware, or public
domain. Below the description is a link to the file or files containing
the actual program. Downloading these files is just like downloading a
file in your home directory. Just highlight it, press "d" for
download, and choose a download protocol.
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