INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Sat, 21 Oct 89       Volume 89 : Issue 544
 
Today's Topics:
                               fortran
                          MIDI advice sought
                More Internationalization of Software
                      Spectre GCR availability?
                      TT vs 386 boxes and Apple
                     Turbo C, Gulam and the stack
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Date: 21 Oct 89 22:20:14 GMT
From: dftsrv!iris613!stailey@ames.arc.nasa.gov  (Ken Stailey)
Subject: fortran
 
In article <3937.253ca865@uwovax.uwo.ca> 4224_5132@uwovax.uwo.ca writes:
>I need help finding a GOOD fortran for my ST.
 
The only good FORTRAN is a dead FORTRAN.
 
INET stailey@iris613.gsfc.nasa.gov
UUCP ?backbone?!dftsrv!iris613!stailey
 
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Date: 21 Oct 89 23:27:33 GMT
From: zephyr.ens.tek.com!wrgate!amadeus!brandonl@uunet.uu.net  (Brandon G.
 Lovested)
Subject: MIDI advice sought
 
My desire is to get into music composition, not having any formal training.
I have looked at a few keyboards, and have found the Roland D-5 to be
sufficient for my needs (8 voices plus drums).  Now, the hard part.
 
Realizing the rivalry between Amiga and Atari exists, I ask those of you
with some experience with both machines to help someone to decide the
"best path for my particular needs."
 
I am aware, also, that both Commodore and Atari will have new machines out
soon.  This may be under the category of sci-fi, though.
 
In any case, I shy away from small systems, like the A500, for future support
reasons, and the fact I will necessarily need large memory (?1 MB RAM to
begin with).
 
I am afraid, however, that local support of both machines is spotty here
in Portland, Oregon.  Sure, there's PC's (dull, number-crunching-intensive
machines), and there's MAC's (too overpriced).  Is there an optimum solution?
Money is, of course, an issue.  A few grand is ok for a music system, CPU,
a word processor, and a couple games.  But for amounts over that, I think I
will simply crawl back into my shell and wait for cheaper times ahead.
 
Thank you so much.
 
 
 
================================================================================
                             |
Brandon G. Lovested          |  "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped,
                             |   indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered!
brandonl@amadeus.WR.TEK.COM  |   My life is my own."
                             |
================================================================================
 
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Date: 21 Oct 89 23:34:57 GMT
From: mcsun!sunic!infovax!bl@uunet.uu.net  (Bj|rn Larsson)
Subject: More Internationalization of Software
 
In article <9995@cadnetix.COM> terrell@cadnetix.COM () writes:
>
>II:    Software Documentation & Orthography
>
>Does US software/documentation usually get translated for countries that have
>relatively small user communities (e.g. Sweden)?  If the answer is "No",
>would translation of a product give it a great competitive advantage
>over a similar, but non-translated product?
 
Larger packages, like word some word processors, speard-sheets, integrated
packages etc get translated if the market justifies it. Programming lan-
guages, programmers editors and special utilities usually don't since pro-
fessional programmers know english well anyway, and the market is smaller
(by comparison). As for DOS itself, IBM translates all DOS documentation,
and all text strings in the programs themselves, to Swedish (and all other
national languages too). To me it's a nuisance, since I prefer english. It
looks so ridiculous in swedish many times, and sometimes the translations
aren't right either. So I always try to get the english language versions,
but it seems DOS 'in english' is getting hard to find on the swedish market.
 
In general, I think it's a definite competitive edge here to have docs and
prompts in the national language in question.
 
About the rest of Europe, I know that in France it is regulated *by law*
that in order to sell a computer product there, documentation in french
*must* be available. I don't know how the law is obeyd - my company does
export to France (both hardware and software) with english docs...
 
As for population sizes for those who don't know, we're about 8 million
people here in Sweden, and there are about 55 million in France. Both
countries cover approximately the same land area.
 
>III:   Product Introduction
>
>After reading several overseas computer mags, I get the impression that
>(to be sarcastic) Europe is used as a beta-test site for US-developed
>software.  I own SPRINT 1.0 which I believe is the most recent version
>available domestically, while users in Europe are using version 1.5.
 
But is Borland an American company? The original Turbo PASCAL was written
by a danish guy (who admittedly now lives in the US). And (I may be very
wrong about this but) isn't the company which owns Borland based in Sweden?
I think I've seen something like that somewhere (but I think development
- most of it  - is actually done in the US). Further I know that Swedish
Borland International has more or less forbidden US Borland to export to
swedish distributors, since SW Borland wants Borland products in Sweden
to have swedish docs. Therefore to get english docs, I had to buy my
Turbo C Professional package from abroad (actually from Logicsoft in
Holland). Isn't it weird?
 
But to answer your question, I don't think Europe gets earlier releases
than the US. Rather, the introduction of the same packages are probably
done at the same time, or maybe somewhat later here.
 
                                                        -- Bjorn
 
--
 ====================== InfoVox = Speech Technology =======================
 Bjorn Larsson, INFOVOX AB      :      ...seismo!mcvax!kth!sunic!infovax!bl
 Box 2503                       :         bl@infovox.se
 S-171 02 Solna, Sweden         :         Phone (+46) 8 735 80 90
 
------------------------------
 
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 89 16:01:42 EDT
From: Brian Holmes <BHOLMES%WAYNEST1.BITNET@CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu>
Subject: Spectre GCR availability?
 
Is anyone shipping Spectre GCR yet?
 
                        Brian Holmes
                        CSC Operating Systems & Communications
 
SNAIL    : Wayne State University, 5925 Woodward, Detroit MI 48202 U.S.A.
BITNET   : BHOLMES@WAYNEST1
INTERNET : Brian_Holmes@UM.CC.UMICH.EDU
UUCP     : ?UMIX|ITIVAX?!WAYNE-MTS!BRIAN_HOLMES
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 21 Oct 89 16:57:39 GMT
From: ogccse!blake!ramsiri@ucsd.edu  (Enartloc Nhoj)
Subject: TT vs 386 boxes and Apple
 
In article <1035@cc.helsinki.fi> JALKIO@cc.helsinki.fi (Varsinainen sikapossu
 kuoli t?n??n.) writes:
>In article <28320@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>, stephen@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Stephen
 Whitney) writes:
>>
>
>a MAC with a ST faster than a real MAC. I hope (and believe) that the TT
>will be the first truly affordable machine for Unix-usage.
>
>difficult to make a computer that is as good but many times cheaper!
>on this planet....
>
>                               Jouni
 
 
I originally simply posted an ad I saw for a 25Mhz 386 box, 8 expansion
slots, VGA color high res monitor and card, 60 meg 1:1 hard drive, floppy,
keyboard, 1meg RAM  for $1995.00 ... and correct me if I am wrong,
there are several flavors of UNIX to choose from that should indeed
run on this machine.  I don't understand why people such as Jouni
say:  " first truly affordable machine for Unix-usage; ... as good
but MANY TIMES cheaper..".  Does Jouni know something that I don't
know?  Has ATARI announced a price for the TT?  Is it MANY TIMES cheaper
than $1995.00 ?  WIll ATARI support their Unix SYS V as well as they
have supported TOS?  Hmm...I guess only ATARI can tell us for sure,
and since their lips are sealed, it's hard to read them....
 
-kevin
ramsiri@blake.acs.washington.edu
 
------------------------------
 
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 89 08:14:21 EDT
From: David <MEGGIN@vm.epas.utoronto.ca>
Subject: Turbo C, Gulam and the stack
 
Turbo C does use the stack strangely, but you can force a function to
use a normal ST stack with the keyword `cdecl' (also found in MSC and TC
on the IBM).  For example, if you are trying to call Gulam from TC, use
a prototype for the function pointer like this:
 
       int cdecl (*sysptr)(char * cmdline);
 
Then, whenever you call (*sysptr)(), it will place its argument on the
regular stack.  Remember to get the value of sysptr from SHELL_P, and
that SHELL_P is in protected memory, so you will have to go into
supervisor mode to look at it.
 
          David Megginson, Centre for Medieval Studies, Toronto
 
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Date: (null)
From: (null)
 
 
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #544
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