Last Updated: 2 March 1998

If you would like to upload something to the Rhapsody site please make sure you have read upload guidelines

Think Differently

If you have are used to the way the NeXTStep and OpenStep archives at PEAK have typically been constructed, then the Rhapsody part of the archive will no doubt look a little strange.

We have deliberately changed the layout in a hope to make it clearer and easier to use for Mac users and the new users that we hope Rhapsody will find. You will find fewer abbreviations for directory names, and hopefully clearer definitions of sub-directories.

This layout is also somewhat a concession to the fact that people are using web browsers more often than FTP clients. With this trend in mind, and aware that it is only likely to grow more common, we have tried to make it aesthetically pleasing in a web browser. Hopefully this was done without making it harder to use an FTP client for those who prefer them. Those who use commandline FTP clients will have slightly more problems due to Capitalization and longer directory names.

That said, it should be remembered that FTP is in some ways superior to HTTP when downloading files, especially over a slow connection. FTP allows one to continue a broken connection, which can save you from having to re-download the same portion of a large file.

Introductions aside, here are some of the philosophical motivations and something of a layout guide for the site.

There are three major changes that NeXTStep/OpenStep users will notice.

Unix Tools


Rhapsody users may not be interested in Unix programs. For that reason we have decided to put Unix utilities in their own hierarchy under /rhapsody/Applications/Unix/. For example, PINE (a commandline news and mail reader) would go to /rhapsody/Applications/Unix/mail/ rather than /rhapsody/Applications/mail/

Developer Tools


There is likely to be a wider gulf between Developers and Users in Rhapsody. Therefore the Source Library, Developer applications, other Developer-specific resources will be found under /rhapsody/Developer. For example a Hex editor would be found under /rhapsody/Developer/Applications.

Commercial Demos


Formerly commercial demos used to have their own hierarchy. This meant that the site had to maintain two different hierarchies. It wasn't very good for us.

Also, if you were looking for a graphics program, you had to remember to look in both places. Chances are you might miss a good program because you either forgot or didn't know it was there. It wasn't very good for the users.

Finally, the word demo might have been confusing some people. These programs, by and large, have everything you need except a license string. Most of them have a mode which allows you to test either a limited sub-set of functionality or a full set for a limited amount of time (ie 15 minutes at a time, 30 days, etc).

Therefore there will now be a Commercial subdirectory underneath the respective Applications directory. For example, Create (a commercial graphics program) would be found under /rhapsody/Applications/Graphics/Commercial whereas any freeware and shareware programs would be found under /rhapsody/Applications/Graphics/

Filenaming
Apple has been naming files a little differently than we have been naming files.

The biggest difference is the use of `-' rather than `.' to separate fields. For more on this, please refer to the page on uploading instructions.

PEAK owns and operates this site voluntarily. Any suggestions, questions, comments, and such should be sent to [email protected] "Think Different", Rhapsody, NeXTStep, and OpenStep are trademarks of http://www.apple.com