Why do Lazarus users share code via zip files rather than repo links?

[Handoko]

No, I do not have any account on GitHub, GitLab, SourceForge, etc.

[MarkMLl]

@markml I just looke at your link and yes I did see a green button and clicked it an nothing seems to happen. Maybe it’s my computer? Then I tried to look at a file in there https://github.com/MarkMLl/asound/blob/main/asoundpcm.pas
It is not showing me any code and there appears to be a thin red progress bar under the “code” on left side that doesn’t ever advance past “code”.
Not a good user experience I’d say.

I've just set up a completely clean browser and that link works. If you could demonstrate conclusively that Github /requires/ an account it would be newsworthy.

In short, it's most likely that you've got a screwed browser, possibly something nasty you've picked up from one of your social media "friends".

Another thing I’d like to share with other zip enthusiasts is that some email providers such as gmail will not let you send large files. My friend had to use a russian email address before I could send him my Modest application.Exe file.

Old news (you get what you pay for), and that's one reason why various repos are fairly popular. However this has absolutely no relevance to the issue in hand, which is files attached to forum postings.

MarkMLl

[cdbc]

Hi
The link works just fine.
Regards Benny

[KodeZwerg]

@handoko do you have a GitHub account? Maybe it can recognize the computers of people who have accounts even if not logged in..

Github does have no information stored about what kind of computer anyone has, it just use regular HTML code that of course include things to analyze your Browser to try to be compatible.
Since you wrote a few times that you use an outdated and dead Windows OS (Windows 7) as your developing system, are you also using an outdated and insecure Browser on that machine?
If you use for example Netscape as your Browser I'd like to advise you to upgrade at least the Browser to a more current version that can handle newest technology.
(Opera I do use on all my machines including mobiles and never made any kind of experience like you wrote)

[MarkMLl]

Github does have no information stored about what kind of computer anyone has, it just use regular HTML code that of course include things to analyze your Browser to try to be compatible.

I'm sorry, but that is /wrong/. Github is a heavy user of Javascript (which is why my locked-down browser doesn't see file content etc.) as well as HTML, it uses cookies to communicate state between client-side Javascript and server-side code (the latter via elementary HTTP state), and in any event it can learn quite a lot about a user from the browser identification string which almost always includes information on the host OS etc.

However I agree that the choice of browser, ad-blocker, sundry plugins etc. will inherently affect what many sites display these days.

-----

As an aside, I've just had email from my accountant who is alerting all customers that they'd picked up (and probably sent out) a virus they'd contracted via DropBox.

I'd make two points:

The first is that everybody with a ha'porth of common sense should know that all incoming content is risky, and should if possible avoid running it through an unprotected web browser.

The second is that their warning email was 155Kb in size. Now I know from experience that their emails are always inflated by embedding multiple message formats and having multiple accreditation logos etc., appended, but anybody who wants to say "I'm not currently sending you any malware- honest" should be able to do so in a couple of dozen plaintext words.

So, going back to Joanna's (et al.) points, I'd suggest that the important thing is to only allow incoming material from social media (and, by extension, Github etc.) to run the absolute minimum of scripting. And after that, to not believe the yarns spun by ones Internet Friends uncritically.

MarkMLl

[paule32]

github.com and Co are only markup's.
This means, that you don't need these Platforms or pay of it.

You can download git and his Tools for free.
Then you can install git onto your local Home Server, to versioning your Source Files.
The cons on this is, that you have to Admin the Server by your self.
That includes Hardware faults, and/or Backup the File System.

Git comes with a lot of Front-End Tools, to do the versioning.
Stay free, in testing it - You are free in a not so shining World.

[Joanna from IRC]

@kodezwerg FYI I wasn’t trying to access GitHub through windows os. I tried on two different computers and both tease me with a list of files and then will not let me view them. I have a rather low opinion of GitHub for blocking people from certain countries as well as using the code stored on their platform as raw material for their ai.

Maybe I’m just strange but no matter where people are from , if they like fpc I’m interested in communicating with them. Third parties trying to block them really annoys me.

@markml my so called “internet friends” consists of other pascal programmers. Surely one of those could never be wrong, 

[KodeZwerg]

Github does have no information stored about what kind of computer anyone has, it just use regular HTML code that of course include things to analyze your Browser to try to be compatible.

I'm sorry, but that is /wrong/. Github is a heavy user of Javascript (which is why my locked-down browser doesn't see file content etc.) as well as HTML, it uses cookies to communicate state between client-side Javascript and server-side code (the latter via elementary HTTP state), and in any event it can learn quite a lot about a user from the browser identification string which almost always includes information on the host OS etc.

I apology, I did used wrong terminology, instead of "HTML" I should have written "Web Technology", HTML can take advantage by using JavaScript and others, by blocking JavaScript the resulting page can have than a different or non-working as it should work-flow, that include non-working buttons etc.
Not misunderstand me, in no way I try to say that you should enable JavaScript nor do I say to disable it. Use is where its needed would be my saying.

@Joanna, github and ai, I do know what you mean and if you or your friends are scared about it, it is okay, you still can use github as a fileshare by uploading password protected archives so no ai can use it.
That it block countries... ever heard about a technology called VPN? Of course it is sad but however they express their TOS, it is like it is.

[Joanna from IRC]

@kodezweg I bet the owners of GitHub would be able to access everything on their servers dont you think? Would Microsoft ever use other people’s work without paying them? No way!

Of course ive heard of vpn but what self respecting person would want to bend over backwards to support a platform which disrespects them? It’s better to help platforms that deserve to be visited. It’s better to associate with people who don’t allow 3rd parties to decide whom they share code with.

[fxeconomist]

We formed ourselves as programmers before the Internet age, that's why.

[Joanna from IRC]

That’s true, there have always been  people who came up with methodologies for solving problems. A cookbook is like a Simple computer program ...

[paule32]

@Joanna:

You can cook Potatoes with, and without Salt.   

[jamie]

But they boil and taste better with salt!
 

[Joanna from IRC]

I don’t cook with salt because I consider that wasteful but I most certainly add plenty of salt pepper and butter/cheese before eating them.. 

[n7800]

Ever tried tar.xz ?

Now I tried. It beats even .7z!

Code: [Select]

richmemo.zip      638,5 kB
richmemo.tar.gz   616,2 kB
richmemo.7z       562,0 kB
richmemo.tar.xz   561,6 kB

What archiving options did you use? In 7zip, if I remember correctly, "-mx9" is the maximum compression level. There are several other settings that can affect the compression level, but this is the most important.