The PAD format is a popular XML-based format for describing downloadable software packages used at a rapidly-growing number of download sites. Using PAD files allows developers to just use the URL to their PAD file rather than fill in a complex form for every download site.

But like most things on this planet PAD is an imperfect solution, being fairly Windows-centric it does not adequately address the needs of developers who deploy to Mac OS.

In response to this, Mr. Ricardo Batista of MacShareware.net (if that name sounds familiar yes, he's the creator of Apple's Extensions Manager control panel) created the MacPAD format. While it does a better job of addressing Mac developer concerns, it is not compatible with the long-standing PAD format and therefore carries a potential to further marginalize the Mac platform, making it hard for the many download sites that currently use PAD to consider also adding Mac listings.

The PAD format is maintained by the Association of Shareware Professionals (see <http://www.asp-shareware.org/pad/>), who maintain a public NNTP server to facilitate discussion of using and enhancing the standard:

<news://news.asp-shareware.org/asp.pad_support>

Mr. Dennis Reinhardt of the ASP is the manager of PAD format maintenance and enhancement, and has encouraged me to let interested parties know of the newsgroup so the PAD format can better address the needs of developers who deploy to multiple platforms.

Ideally, with your help the PAD format will allow us to have a single compact file for describing our software releases whether we deploy to Windows, Mac, Linux, or any combination of them.

--
 Richard Gaskin
 Fourth World Media Corporation
 __________________________________________________
 Rev tools and more: http://www.fourthworld.com/rev
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