PKZips Phil Katz dead

From: Marvin <marvin_at_rain.org>
Date: Fri Apr 28 19:36:26 2000

Glenatacme_at_aol.com wrote:
>
> << > he wrote PKZIP, and within a year ARC was no longer the defacto standard
> for
> > BBS's. I believe the company that wrote ARC is now extinct. Serves them
> right. >>
>
> Hmm . . . I'm not sure I understand this point of view. Katz _stole_ the
> algorithm from ARC -- why shouldn't they sue?
>
> I was using ARC and PKZIP extensively back in '88-'89 and IIRC Katz
> reverse-engineered the ARC code in order to make his product work.

IIRC, part of the reason for the suit was that if SEA did not sue, they
would stand a good chance of losing their right to the name "ARC". PKzip was
written as a result of losing that suit. I recall that sentiments ran high
when SEA initiated the suit and there was a lot of "so there" on the part of
BBS sysops which contributed greatly to the very fast acceptance of ZIP as
the standard archiving method.
Received on Fri Apr 28 2000 - 19:36:26 BST