========================================================================= INFO-ATARI16 Digest Wed, 29 Nov 89 Volume 89 : Issue 721 Today's Topics: Help with Absoft Fortran Mega chips & drive questions Shareware Mac ST Christmas - or STuff for sale STe TOS BUG ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 29 Nov 89 15:05+0100 From: Ritzert%DMZRZU71.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU Subject: Help with Absoft Fortran Message-ID: <891129140519.793251@DMZRZU71-UNI-MAINZ--GERMANY> I have problems with Absoft Fortran. I am porting Erlgraph 2.1, a graphics library of about 650 routines, to the ST. It is easy to compile the routines. But I have problems to create the libraries (as the Absoft's libraries are restricted to at most 210 routines, at least 4 libraries are needed): The librarian is very rudimentary. You cannot drive it by command line arguments or a script file. And input redirection from gulam doesn't work. Of course, I don't want to type in 650 names by hand. And I want to avoid to look into the program with a dissassembler and search for a possibility to patch it. Is there any substitution for the librarian/linker system? Since I use Gulam and GNU make, I would prefer command line driven substitutes if they exist. A linker that can use libraries in GNU format would be great since I have gcc-ar. Side question: is there any utility to convert dri and/or Absoft objects to GNU objects and vice versa? I am not able to write such a thing. But I would like to write the machine dependent parts of the GKS-Metafile drivers in C. Thanks! Michael Ritzert mjr@dmzrzu71.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: 29 Nov 89 00:38:04 GMT From: fox!portal!cup.portal.com!Xorg@apple.com (Peter Ted Szymonik) Subject: Mega chips & drive questions Message-ID: <24548@cup.portal.com> Here is what I've done to my machine: Mega 2, upgraded to 4 megs, with a six chip EPROM TOS 1.4 set (dealer installed - honest.) When I got the TOS 1.4 installed - all hell broke loose - bus errors, random bombs, etc. Spectre GCR was unuseable. When I had the 4 meg upgrade done they aslo replaced the two LS 373 chips with AS373 chips. Since then the machine has been 100% without a bus error to be seen and Spectre GCR is 100%. Peter Szymonik Xorg@cup.portal.com ------------------------------ Date: 28 Nov 89 23:15:50 GMT From: nsc!pyramid!infmx!robert@hplabs.hp.com (Robert Coleman) Subject: Shareware Mac Message-ID: <2716@infmx.UUCP> In article <3268@brazos.Rice.edu> bro@eunomia.rice.edu (Douglas Monk) writes: > >A few points: > >1) In order not to violate Apple's copyrights, ROMS must be made available >for this guy by way of a cartridge. That is going to be expensive, so the >likely result is the shareware fee will be paid even less often than usual. > >2) In fairness to David Small and as an obvious business move, don't make the >cartridge steal his thunder. (His software has checks to make sure the ROMS >are in one of his cartridges and aren't EPROMS. Making a cartridge to get >around this like the Discovery cartridge tries to results only in OUTRIGHT >PIRACY of his software for use with the alternate cartridge. Also, if the >cartridge is compatible, VIRTUALLY NO ONE WILL EVER USE THE SHAREWARE >SOFTWARE OR PAY THE FEE: they'll just use his software and hurt his business >AND yours.) > >3) Comparing David Small to Lotus is laughably self-serving, the kind of >defense that pirates sometimes make: "No one gets hurt, only some big >business..." David Small is a small businessman trying to make a living while >producing outstanding technical achievements on a machine that much of the >world can easily afford to ignore. The market for STs in general is too small >to take the existence of such guys for granted: if they get burned enough, >they'll just go work somewhere else. We cannot afford that. Dave Small sells >STs with his work, and that helps keep my machine viable. > I cannot believe I am reading this. The hidden suppositions in this way of thinking are truly amazing: 1. DAVID SMALL IS A SMALL BUSINESSMAN AND THEREFORE DESERVES SPECIAL PROTECTION. Nonsense. There is nothing magical about a small businessman. Small businessmen should be subject to the same level of competition as everyone else; if they are good, they succeed and become big businessmen. If they are not good, then the person who can produce it Better, Cheaper is the one we "cannot afford ". Incidentally, when is the magical point when we decide that David Small is no longer a small businessman? Potentially, he stands to make a lot of money producing, in "cooperation :~)" with Atari, a very cheap Mac. Lotus was once a very small company with a big idea, too. When is it going to be OK to "steal David's thunder"? 2. DAVID SMALL IS A GENIUS WHO MAY FAIL IF HE FACES COMPETITION. Nonsense. Amazing how people who respect his accomplishments think he may immediately fall flat on his face because he faces competition. That doesn't say a lot for your opinion of him, does it? In fact, if he does face serious competition from someone (I personally do not think it likely) he will move onwards and upwards, produce new products, constantly push the technology edge, JUST EXACTLY AS HE IS DOING NOW! 3. SHAREWARE IS NOT OK IF IT DUPLICATES SMALL BUSINESSPERSON'S SOFTWARE. Hmmm. I wonder what shareware/freeware you own that you could have paid for, that could have supported a small businessperson? You may very well be consistent in this philosophy, but I guarantee most other people aren't. You using Uniterm, for instance? Gulam? Remember, even if a BIG company is issuing a product, it may have purchased the product for distribution from a small businessperson. Does that small businessperson have royalties? Will the company purchase any more products from a small businessperson who's products have been undermined by shareware/freeware? Are you against shareware/freeware as a concept? If it duplicates anything a profession group has done, it is going to hurt someone "small" (as opposed to big, not "David" :~) ) somewhere down the line... 4. UNSUPPORTED SHAREWARE WILL BE SNAPPED UP IN PREFERENCE TO SUPPORTED PROFESSIONAL SOFTWARE. Well, I notice Flash is still selling, in spite of glowing reviews and the easy availability of Uniterm. In fact, the competition to Dave would be in price points. Anyone who is willing to spend 400 bucks for a Mac will probably opt for the supported Mac emulator by the man with the big rep; anyone who is not interested enough to spend 400 bucks but might still want a Mac if the price is right and they don't care for much support will purchase the shareware (or just use it, as is the risk of shareware). They will not be competing in the same market. 5. IF DAVID GETS BURNED BY SHAREWARE, HE WILL MOVE ON TO SOMEWHERE ELSE. Where? Every computer I know has shareware/freeware. This is not an Atari-only phenomenon. Sorry, I think David is smarter than to assume that "moving on" will solve his problems. I'd be much more concerned that he might realize that the potentials to sell anything he does on more major computers is likely to gross greater returns... 6. THIS OTHER GUY IS NOT WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION. I may misremember this mail, but what I recall is that both these products were developed independently, and found different market niches (American vs. Europe). This other guy (I wish I knew his name! I'm not intentionally being insulting) got stomped on by Apple, and was put out of business. David has not been stomped on by Apple...yet. This other guy may very well be in the same league as Dave, but "nipped in the bud". Why does this make Dave more worthy of support? Just about the only thing I can agree with is that the product should check that the Mac roms are roms, not EPROMS. I think that this may be necessary, anyway, to avoid getting sued by Apple (it happened to this guy once, you know...Apple is quite prepared to do this if they can, and tie up assets if they can't). I am not interested in a Mac emulator at any reasonable price (OK, 10 bucks? Well, if I don't have to do any work...). If I was, I would personally use David's, because I would want the support on such a complicated product, and because I wouldn't want to build the necessary hardware myself. However, I find this "David Small is a Ghod and we must do anything to keep him happy" philosophy repellent and, in a backwards sort of way, insulting to Dave. I respect him (not worship) and I believe he will do just fine, competition or no. You should, too. Incidentally, has anyone asked Dave how he feels about this competition? I bet he's not particularly worried... Robert ------------------------------ Date: 29 Nov 89 01:42:19 GMT From: fox!portal!cup.portal.com!Xorg@apple.com (Peter Ted Szymonik) Subject: ST Christmas - or STuff for sale Message-ID: <24553@cup.portal.com> Cartridge Sale, just in time for Christmas! 1- DeskCart! A small 64K ROM cartridge that adds a battery-operated clock, and many powerful accessories (all of which occupy just one .ACC slot!) including: a powerful calendar with appointment input and alarms, a notebook, cardfile, calculator, address book and dailer, VT-52 terminal, keyboard macros, ramdisk, disk utilities, disk formatter, print spooler, new control panel, screen dump, and a memory test (whew!) First $29 gets it. 2- Happy Cartridge, option 2 with ROM sockets and selectable program switches. The ultimate disk copier. Retails for well over $200, first $145 gets it. or buy both for a mere $160! Software clearance (so I can afford to buy new stuff Red Lightning SSI - $19 Firezone PSS - $12 Sorcerer Lord PSS - $12 Bismark PSS - $12 Wars in Middle Earth Melbourne - $17 Axe of Rage (Deathsword II) Epyx - $11 Colossus Chess X - $15 Universe III Omnitrend - $19 All software like new and includes original disks, docs, box, etc. Take a $1 for every game you buy after the first one. E-mail to xorg@cup.portal.com Peter Szymonik ------------------------------ Date: 28 Nov 89 20:59:28 GMT From: fox!portal!atari!kbad@apple.com (Ken Badertscher) Subject: STe TOS BUG Message-ID: <1832@atari.UUCP> rehrauer@apollo.HP.COM (Steve Rehrauer) asks: | are there ROMs which say "1.6" which really contain different things? Yes there are! The STE_FIX.PRG knows which version needs the fix and which version doesn't. The program is available in the countries to which the earlier dated ROM revision was released. All a user needs to do is run STE_FIX and it will refuse to install itself if the TOS version doesn't need the fix. Incidentally, the original 1.6 revision has an os_date in the os header of 0x07291989, the corrected revision is dated 0x10171989 (that date ring any bells for anyone? ;) -- ||| Ken Badertscher (ames!atari!kbad) ||| Atari R&D System Software Engine / | \ #include ------------------------------ End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #721 *****************************************