A mechanism for sharing files, and sets of related files, or packages of
files, in a multi-host, multi-platform environment is provided. A public
package client handles user requests to perform operations on a software
package. Additionally, information about the package and the files
contained therein may be obtained. A server, responsive to the client,
performs the operations on the package. Data about the files is set in a
data structure which may be stored in an archive along with the files
themselves. In particular, this data may identify each file as either a
text or binary file and as an executable file. A client may access the
aforementioned data to determine if the file or files require further
processing to adapt the file to the operating system on the client. Such
processing may, for example, include linefeed/carriage return translation
and codepage translation, or setting file attributes.