In our discussion of APS 2.7.3 Formatting software, Allen briggs,
<allen.briggs@vt.edu> said:

> You can ftp 2.7.3 from:
> 	ftp://jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/mac/APS273.sit.hqx
> 
> The AAA.README in the same directory mentions that it's available
> from their BBS.  I don't know, either, what the legality of using
> it when you don't have an APS drive is.  I haven't looked at the
> package, so there might be some more info there.  If anyone would
> like to check and report back to the list, it might be helpful--even
> better would be if someone would like to volunteer to check on the
> legality of using the APS tools and, if they're free and clear,
> writing up a quick HOW-TO or FAQ on how to use the tools for custom
> partitioning.

I talked to the friendly folks at APS today.

Here is the news you didn't want to hear. APS 2.7.3 is commercial software.
It is equivalent to SCSI-director Pro from Transoft. In fact, APS
licenses that software from Transoft specifically for inclusion on their
drives. APS holds that the only legal way to get APS 2.7.3 is by buying a
disk drive from them (although they don't care what disks you format with it.)

They admitted that APS2.7.3 has been found on BBSes in the past, and they
said that they shut them down. If you didn't buy an APS drive, and you
downloaded APS2.7.3 then you are using illegal software. The folks at
APS suggested that people who find themselves in this situation can
simply purchase SCSI director Pro from Transoft. I checked with MacZone,
(1-800-248-0800) and they have it in stock at $62.98 which is awfully
reasonable as far as disk formatting software goes (IMHO).

This package is not for use with the new SCSI manager, but the MacBSD
community shouldn't care about that. It seems very good at partitioning
for Un*x. 

Steve Weiss - srw@cyberspace.org