THE BIG GREEN CD
The Big Green CD (BGCD) was the best-selling and oldest continually published collection of redistributable software for NEXTSTEP. The Rock Ridge-compatible CD-ROM contained the latest in freeware and shareware software for both NeXTStep and BSD UNIX, organized in an easy-to-navigate way.
The BGCD pushed the limits of CD capacity, holding over 600 megabytes of utilities, source code, reference material, programming languages, games and UNIX and GNU software, including much for both Intel and Motorola architectures. To make it easier for you to find software, a Digital Librarian indexed directory of every README file was included.
The BGCD was one of Skylee Press's attempts to disseminate the fruits of the NEXTSTEP community. The contents of the disc were completely redistributable, though some was shareware, for which you muse pay a reasonable fee directly to its author if you enjoy it or find it useful.
Skylee Press
$99
Qty in the collection 1
The following is quoted from the Big Green CD literature:
The Big Green CD
History
In 1990, Lighthouse Design introduced the First Compilation Disk, a collection of fully redistributable public domain and shareware software on a NeXT magneto-optical disk. In early 1991, Lighthouse Design changed the disk's name to the Big Green Disk to reflect the company's commitment to the environment. In August 1991, Skylee Press assumed its production, updating its contents and expanding its size to fill a double-sided disk.
The Disk
Now that NeXT has committed to shipping NeXTSTEP 3.0 on CD-ROM, Skylee Press will be moving the Big Green Disk to CD. Its higher capacity means that you'll get more software from the talented NeXT programming community, and its lower cost makes it more affordable than equivalent magneto-optical disks. The disk will adhere to the Rock Ridge format, so the disk will appear much like a regular NeXT file directory in the File Viewer.
Contents
Like the Big Green Disk, the Big Green CD will contain hundreds of megabytes of NeXTSTEP and UNIX applications, including utilities, games, shareware, source code, documentation, and other material. We're actively soliciting submissions from the NeXT programming community and will test the contents as thoroughly as possible. The contents of the disk (apart from our Big Green Summary application) will be completely redistributable and we plan on issuing regular updates,
though their frequency will depend on the availability of new and updated software.
Cost
The Big Green CD will ship concurrently with and require NeXTSTEP 3.0. Its retail price will be $99, and will be available from NeXTConnection (1-800-800-NeXT, 603-446-7771). For registered owners of the Big Green Disk, the Big Green CD will be $50, available directly from Skylee Press.
Copyrights
Skylee Press will hold no copyright over the material on the disk. If authors have explicitly copyrighted their material, their copyrights will remain intact. Rather, we will hold a copyright over the arrangement of the data on the CD-ROM which makes our compilation unique and a copyright for the Big Green Summary (an application which describes the contents of the disk). You may freely copy and distribute the contents of the disk apart from the Big Green Summary.
Want your software included?
If you would like to contribute your own software (free or shareware), send a message to cd-guide@skylee.com (ASCII) or cd-guide-next@skylee.com (NeXTmail) for submission guidelines. Information will be sent to you automatically (please be sure your return address is valid).
For further information
If you have any more questions or comments, drop us a line at editors@skylee.com. We'd like to hear what you'd particularly like to be included.
Skylee Press
PO Box 471645
San Francisco CA 94147-1645
415-474-7803
415-474-7896 (fax)
About Skylee Press
Skylee Press provides consulting services for companies interested in the Asian NeXT markets and also publishes NeXTwatch, a monthly newsletter containing reviews, tips, editorials, and helpful information for NeXTSTEP users. For more information, send mail to nextwatch-info@skylee.com (ASCII) or nextwatch-info-next@skylee.com
(NeXTmail). Information will be sent to you automatically.
The Big Green Disk and the Big Green CD are trademarks of Skylee Press. NeXT, NeXTSTEP, and NeXTwatch are trademarks of NeXT Computer, Inc. NeXTConnection is a trademark of PC Connection Inc. and NeXT Computer, Inc. For every Big Green Disk or Big Green CD purchased, Skylee Press donates $5 to organizations dedicated to protecting and preserving the environment.
12 April 1992
Submission Guidelines
for the Big Green CD
We appreciate your interest in submitting software for distribution on the Big Green CD. These guidelines are merely that. Although you needn't follow them, it will make our work easier and make your software more accessible to the NeXT community.
Acceptable Material
We will consider including any freely redistributable software. Sounds and TIFF or EPS images from copyrighted material (TV or movies, for example) are unsuitable. Of course, we reserve the right to decline to include material we think is inappropriate. If you have any questions, send a
query to editors@skylee.com.
Copyrights
Skylee Press will hold no copyright over material you have written, so if you have explicitly copyrighted your material, that will remain intact. Rather, we will hold a copyright over the arrangement of the data on the CD-ROM which distinguishes the compilation.
Categories
To keep things as simple as possible, we can divide its contents into three main categories: free software, shareware software, and demonstration software. Other categories may make themselves apparent later.
Free software
This is software over which you either 1) hold no copyright and have released into the public domain or 2) hold a copyright and have released for general distribution, possibly under the terms of the Free Software Foundation's General Public License.
Shareware
This is software over which you maintain copyright and have released for public distribution, but you require that users pay a fee if they use it for longer than a limited period of time.
Demoware
This is commercially available packaged software that your company has disabled in some way (it might not save and/or print, for example). We'll plan to put a demo directory on the Big Green CD disk if there is room, but if there are many demo submissions we'll consider publishing a
separate disk for them.
What we're looking for
Of course, any free or freely redistributable software for the NeXT of the above categories will be welcome, but in particular we'd like to include binaries of UNIX utilities, and in .pkg files for easy installation (for example, CNews.pkg) if possible. We also want to promote your shareware and will be including encouragements to people to make payments for shareware they use. Also helpful will be source code, especially NeXTSTEP examples and documentation, localization
help, and similar reference material.
How to submit
We can accept submissions by e-mail, 720K or 1.4M floppy, magneto-optical disk, or DDS DAT (with or without HP compression). The easiest for many of you with Net access will be by NeXTmail, although there is apparently a one megabyte limit to the size of a single message which will pass through PSI, our service provider. If you want to submit something larger than that,uuencoding and splitting it into pieces will be fine.
Send a message to editors@skylee.com if you want to discuss your submission. If you submit material on floppies, MOs, or tapes, we'll return them to you at our expense (though before you send anything by disk or tape, let us know what you'd like to send first).
What to send us
We'd like to make sure that the software we include on the disk is as complete as possible. Many of the people who will get this software will be people without net access and without your expertise, and we want to work with you to make sure your material is as easy to install and use as
possible.
Here are some parts of a submission which you may or may not include, though the more you have the better things will be for the user. Some of them are obvious, and we mention them here for completeness.
Manifest
If you have more than just a few files in your submission, please include a file which lists all files that should be in the distribution.
README
Include a text file called App_Name.README which summarizes what your program does and how to use it. Include your copyright, if any, how to install the software (if it requires anything special) and how the user can get in touch with you. If your software is shareware, make sure you include your name, address, amount you require, and length of time the user may try out the software before being obliged to pay you. Also note here if your app requires any particular hardware or software (the DSP, color, OS version, a particular shell, whatever). The typical user will not necessarily be as NeXT savvy as you, so try to make your explanations as complete as you
can.
For simplicity, try not to make this an RTF file. Keep it plain ASCII as we will be indexing copies of all README files for quick reference.
The Application
We want to include as many binaries as possible—many people who will get the Big Green CD won't have a compiler. NeXT claims that 2.X binaries will be compatible with 3.0, but we intend to test all apps to be sure, assuming we are allowed to participate in the betatesting of 3.0. First of all, make sure that your application works! Bugs are inevitable, of course. We're talking about missing NIB files, sounds, and so forth. We'll test it, but of course we can't guarantee that
we can give it a thorough going over.
If your app's installation is more complicated than dragging it into an Apps directory, consider making it a .pkg file for use with the Installer. If you need help with this, send your questions to editors@skylee.com and we'll try to help. If you want, we can provide you with a script that will help you create a package.
Be sure to make an informative Info panel including your name, e-mail address, and so forth. Some of the most interesting software includes no information concerning its authors (seahaven and Ringo come to mind). Try to include some on-line help too, even something as straightforward as your README file in a text field. For an example of a more sophisticated online help system, check out /NextDeveloper/Examples/BusyBox.
Source
You certainly don't have to include source if you don't want to, unless of course you are basing your app on code that requires that you make it available. If you use software covered under the Free Software Foundation's General Public License or distribute your own under it, you must make your source code available somehow. In such cases, we'd like to be sure that the source is included, rather than give, for example, an IP address to someone who probably won't have net access.
Documentation
Though some might think that written documentation is an admission of failure (right, Tim? :-) we recommend that you include some kind of separate documentation, preferably in .rtf or .rtfd format. Although NeXT says it will ship a read-only version of WriteNow, .rtf and .rtfd documents will probably be more convenient for on-line use because they can be opened within the Digital Librarian. We will be indexing all on-line documentation as well as separate README files. Include all the information in your README file, but use this as an opportunity to expand that information. Include graphics if you think they would be helpful. We may be able to help you with your documentation, if you want.
Questions? Suggestions?
We'd like to hear from you—drop us a line at editors@skylee.com. Please bear in mind that this is an ongoing project, and we'll be updating the contents frequently. We're only human, but we want to make the most complete and useful collection possible.
Skylee Press
PO Box 471645
San Francisco CA 94147-1645
415-474-7803
415-474-7896 (fax)
About Skylee Press
Skylee Press provides consulting services for companies interested in the Asian NeXT markets and also publishes NeXTwatch, a monthly newsletter containing reviews, tips, editorials, and helpful information for NeXTSTEP users. For more information, send mail to nextwatch-info@skylee.com (ASCII) or nextwatch-info-next@skylee.com
(NeXTmail). Information will be sent to you automatically (please be sure your return address is valid).
The Big Green Disk and the Big Green CD are trademarks of Skylee Press. NeXT, NeXTSTEP, and NeXTwatch are trademarks of NeXT Computer, Inc. NeXTConnection is a trademark of PC Connection Inc. and NeXT Computer, Inc. For every Big Green Disk or Big Green CD purchased, Skylee Press donates $5 to organizations dedicated to protecting and preserving the environment.
12 April 92