-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 At 09:41 AM 9/17/2005, you wrote:

Hello. You are approaching a multiple DVD set as an alternative. Is there any reason for this? I've read your other comments about special collections of various sorts and wanting to cram as much on one DVD as possible, but you didn't address what I said previously.

I'm approaching every option as an alternative. I was just throwing one possible solution out there for discussion.

Eventually, there will be too many books to fit on one DVD even without pictures. Why not start moving towards multiple DVDs now while we can before this is mandatory. Even though you and I are blind, you must still consider that many books are useless without the pictures, not to mention books of pictures only. Also what about the audio files and other items which are usually excluded? You could include everything PG has to offer by using two DVDs. I don't really see this as an alternative, I see this as a requirement. Below, you write:

A compilation of all of the zip files of Project Gutenberg would require at least three DVDs. This is not including the Human Genome, nor the audio books. Including those would require many more.

Yes, but how many of those extras are actually being given away? Do people tell you that they are going to give it to someone? In other words, you might be wasting the extra DVD anyway if it isn't being given to someone. I think cost is really a non-issue. On sale, blanks cost 25 cents or less in the US.

The cost of the discs isn't as much an issue as is the postage. I don't know what is happening to the extra discs, but I would imagine that a good number of them are being given away. However, this is pure speculation. Perhaps a survey would help. The only problem with that is that I don't know if we have permission to do so. When we collect their information, we tell them that "we won't use it for any other purpose."

Even if the cost is just too much, I still think it's worth it even if you can't include a set to be given away. You can always include a note that if someone else wants one, just ask. Another idea would be to start giving away CDs instead of DVDs. Still send out DVD sets when they ask but throw in a CD also for them to give away. That might actually be better if the idea is to let as many people as possible know about PG.

Sorry I wasn't more clear on this. If a person requests a dvd, we always send a CD along with it. The only time we send 2 DVDs is when they specifically request two. Finally, if they request a CD, we send two. So, no matter what, we always send two discs. This keeps the weight of the envelopes at almost exactly 2 ounces.

If the goal instead is to just give as many books away as possible regardless of how useful they are, then I agree that you should throw away everything but plain 7-bit text and hope for the best. I think that makes PG look bad though since now a lot is available in pdf, html, etc.

And here we are back at the original question. Do we send out as many books as we can, or do we send out a collection of the "best" books, even if that means we send out less? If the latter, how do we decide which to include and which to ignore?

I was talking about the give away project also. Again, is the goal to just give as many away in any condition no matter what or is it to give away lots of books in a useful format with pictures to show them that there are thousands of books freely available online? If the former, then forget all I said about multiple DVDs. You're right that pictures are not important. If the later, you should include pictures and html versions at a minimum and break them into multiple DVD sets. That has the advantage of showing people that PG is not in fact just plain text although almost all books are available in that form.

Don't ask me. I just burn them and mail them. :)

I would like to respectfully disagree with something. You seem to think that offering huge ISO images for download is no big deal since anyone with broadband can get them. I have broadband but it takes me a very long time to get a 4.7 GB file. For many people, it really isn't practical to burn their own DVDs. My main computer doesn't have a DVD reader. I have a computer with a DVD burner but it doesn't have enough disk space. There is a huge error rate with a file that size and it is a huge pain to combine that many smaller files. Almost all DVD burning packages are expensive, so it would probably cost more to download and burn your own than to just get one sent.

This seems to very widely from person to person. For some, errors are a huge issue. For others, they are not, either because they have a better connection or because they use a protocol which eliminates them, such as BitTorrent. Likewise, for many people, drive space isn't a problem, and the cheap burners that they bought for $35 came with a program which lets them burn the ISO, while others don't have these luxuries. So, you are correct that not everyone with broadband and a burner can make their own DVD. It requires a bit more than that, not to mention a bit of technical know-how. Also, when you say (and I'm paraphrasing) it would be cheaper to have one sent, I would ask, cheaper for whom? We are not currently charging for the discs we send. We are instead relying strictly on donations.

Please try to keep this in mind if you are going to create a bunch of ISOs of various sorts. That isn't the easiest thing in the world for people to use. CD images of course are much easier and more practical.

I don't follow what you mean here. An ISO file is a way of storing a CD image.

Finally, I'm curious about something. Since you are blind, are you putting labels on the DVDs? Are you making labels? I have never found an accessible program to make disc labels. The best I found was covers which I don't want. I would love to find a CD/DVD label making program which I can actually use.

Actually, we are keeping costs down as much as possible. Most of our volunteers are just writing on the disc. In my case, this is how my wife contributes to the project. Another reason we don't include labels is because they have been shown to warp discs over time. Anyway, I don't know what the ideal solution is. That's why we are having this discussion. I am not set on any particular solution which has been offered. I just want something that is practical to compile, update and which will keep costs down as much as possible while giving as much value as possible to those who receive it. Sincerely Aaron Cannon - -- E-mail: cannona@fireantproductions.com Skype: cannona MSN Messenger: cannona@hotmail.com (Do not send E-mail to the hotmail address.) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (MingW32) - GPGrelay v0.959 Comment: Key available from all major key servers. iD8DBQFDLE8+I7J99hVZuJcRAqCDAJ9TQfjSFiNSa5MU753L9OysrwMPQACaA1Dn znN3A3o+yLo709i7BhKs+wc= =hqSi -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----