INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Fri, 17 Nov 89       Volume 89 : Issue 667
 
Today's Topics:
                        another type of editor
                     atari ABC  yea or nay  ????
                         European BBS Query_
                     evidence?  _what_ evidence?
                   GDOS - basic information wanted
                    MAC: a shareware Mac emulator
                            Uniterm Fonts
           v08i058: drachen -- Game (mono only)  part01/02
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 89 10:17
From: Roland Waldi
 <BD05%DKAUNI2.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: another type of editor
 
Hello all, I want to check if there is a market for another editor, or
better: an EDITOR and SHELL in one program (64kB). It looks very similar
to NEWLIB running on top of TSO on IBM mainframes at DESY (the best
editor/shell in the IBM mainframe world I have ever seen). Since most of
you won't know this one: it looks still close to XEDIT under VM/CMS, or
KEDIT for compatible PCs, or (but only slighly) to ISPF/PDF. It has a
line number field at the left, linecommands, powerful editor commands
like ALL, EXCLUDE, OVERLAY, SORT..., it has variable tabbing,
zone-selection, various find-modes, it offers fast(*) parallel editing
of large files, use of ALL 255 displayable characters in the
ST-8bit-ASCII extension, execution of PRG, TTP, TOS, WEX (exec or
"batch"), many shell commands like RESHOW, DIR (fullscreen!), CD, MD,
ERASE, RENAME..., 64 user-defined function keys and/or custom commands,
26 programmable keys (for any keystrokes), and it works around all those
nasty bugs in TOS 1.0/1.2 without you noticing it. It also has many
"little goodies", like keyclick-control, screen-invert,
hex-octal-decimal text display, hex-input, continuous size-display
(lines/kB/free RAM), key-status display (CAPSLOCK, INSERT...). However,
I didn't find a place where the mouse could be helpful. Finally, it
allows flexible custom exec-files: I use CLG to make an executable with
LASER C, or TEXD to invoke TeX with german hyphenation, or UNCR to
remove double-CR's and trailing blanks produced by our KERMIT, or
ABKSORT to sort abbreviations ignoring punctution and case, or FILEL to
list a date/time ordered directory, or FIRSTWORD to invoke 1stWORD in
its proper directory holding the RSC-file, or PLAY to invoke any of the
games installed on my harddisk, or UUDEARC to invoke UUD and ARC
consecutively, or ARCHIVE to ARC a whole subdirectory and copy it to
disk, .... (just a subsample to illustrate what can be done).
 
(*)  It comes close to TEMPUS in most functions, except for screen
     display, which takes 0.3 s for one completely new screen on a SM124
     monitor--but 3 screens in one second is sure faster you can read,
     and reaching line 16000 of a 32000-lines-file takes no more time
     than advancing one line.
 
Now my question: Is there any interest in this product, except by me (of
course I wrote it to satisfy all my demands, but yours may differ)?
Would you buy it? At what price? Or is everybody happy with EMACS-like
editors or mouse-editors and Gulam or the Desktop? Any suggestions how
to get it out with a useful manual (it would be of no use for you
without manual, except for the basic features all other programs offer
as well), in a reasonable time, although my spare time for this project
is very limited?
 
if you feel addressed, please reply via E-mail
 
Roland Waldi, bd05@dkauni2.bitnet
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 17 Nov 89 07:20:27 GMT
From: eru!luth!sunic!tut!tukki!suhonen@bloom-beacon.mit.edu  (Timo Suhonen)
Subject: atari ABC  yea or nay  ????
 
In article <46300069@uxf.cso.uiuc.edu> rjk752@uxf.cso.uiuc.edu writes:
>
>/* Written 11:34 pm  Nov 12, 1989 by Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com in
 uxf.cso.uiuc.edu:comp.sys.atari.st */
Some text deleted...
 
>SI rating between 2.5 and 3.0 because of the power of the 68000 (RISC
>architecture).                                                   ~~~~
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
The MC68000 is FAR from RISC!!!!   It is absolutely a CISC processor!
 
>       I am a month from graduation as a computer engineer, and....
If only I where you professor, I'll would kick you out of the University!!
Almoust draduated computer engineer, and does not know NOTHING about
processors... Where is the word goning to?????
 
Some text deleted...
 
Timo
 
PS: English is not my native lasnguage...
 
--
Timo Suhonen                                           suhonen@tukki.jyu.fi
Disclaimer: The text above is from my left brain cell. The right one is for
          SeX and Drugs and Rock'n Roll. Al K. Hall has eaten the others...
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 17 Nov 89 10:49:39 GMT
From:
 genbank!uwm.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!uxa.cso.uiuc.edu!glk01126@app
le.com
Subject: European BBS Query_
 
        Could some of you people in Europe please mail or post
        the numbers of your favorite BBS's over there?
 
        Thanks in advance.
 
        If anyone is interested in a compilation, please respond.
 
 
        -Spieu!
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 16 Nov 89 16:42:45 GMT
From: davidli@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu  (Dave Meile)
Subject: evidence?  _what_ evidence?
 
In article <24111@cup.portal.com> Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com writes:
>In the "Real World (tm)", there are things known as Warranties of
>Merchantability and Fittness for Purpose.  There are also things known
>as Truth in Advertising, and Fraud.
>
>If Greg Wageman had been one of the people who had bought an Atari ST
>based on the promises of the Chief Executive Officer of the company, I'm
>willing to wager he too would be more than a little upset when the
>implied contract was broken.
 
I have _never_ personally seen an advertisement from Atari which promised
that the 1040ST would have a blitter chip.  Moreover, I have _never_
personally heard the CEO of Atari state that a blitter chip would be provided
to all 1040ST owners.
 
I _have_ read numerous rumours over the past 3 years, posted by any number of
people, NONE of whom were officially connected with Atari, to the effect that
this or that piece of hardware/software was "coming soon" from Atari.  It
seems to sell magazines ...
 
I note that the PRELIMINARY review of the 1040ST in Byte magazine _does_
include mention of a blitter chip -- the authors also noted the empty spot on
the motherboard for the RF-modulator.  I did not purchase a 1040ST based on
the review (which, as Byte magazine editors were so careful to point out,
was _preliminary_, ie. subject to change).
 
>As far as technical details, the "blitter upgrade" had been promised by
>many different Atari Corp people over a span of several years.  It was not
>something that a stupid executive just happened to blurt out on a TV
>"talk show".  There had been upgrades/daughter boards/motherboard swaps
>discussed by Atari for years.
 
Big question -- was this during the Neil "two weeks" Harris reign of error?
And do you have proof that such "promises" were official Atari Corporation
press releases, or were they off-the-cuff remarks made in response to questions
about the blitter chip to the effect "we're working on it"?  Did you get a
definite release date and a written committment beyond "we're working on it"?
Names, dates and places, please.
 
I'm pretty tired of hearing about "nameless" officials at Atari who did this
or that.  If you have evidence, present it, otherwise cease and desist.
 
>  This created an expectation of performance
>for those who invested in Atari equipment.
 
The "expectation" has been built by countless ST owners passing numerous
rumours off as fact.
 
>  Atari obviously expected that
>a blitter equipped "vented case" 1040 would pass FCC certification because
>they redesigned the motherboard with a blitter socket position.  "Do It
>Yourself" blitter upgrades are possible *if* you have the right motherboard.
>That leaves us with the question of why Atari didn't do it themselves...
 
Perhaps they took it to the FCC and it _wasn't_ certified?  Without any more
information than you've provided, that's the first conclusion that I'd come
up with, not the one you seem to prefer -- "it was a marketing scam".
 
>Sorry if I've exceeded my message allowance by posting this reply, and I'm
>further sorry if anyone reading this is annoyed that it's not an Atari
>cheerleader message.  I don't much care about a blitter chip and I don't
>plan to say anything more about the subject.  Atari Corp lied to their
>customers, and that annoys *me*
 
They didn't lie to _me_.  I'm a customer.  Ergo, your assertion is false, or
needs to be modified.  But then, I'm the sort of person who purchases a
computer for what it can do _NOW_, not what some magazine or well-meaning
owner _thinks_ should be available in the future.
 
Anyone who purchases a computer for what they _think_ might be available in
the future is foolish.
 
>I *would* be interested to see what would happen if a group of dissatisfied
>Atari customers decided to challenge Atari in court over this issue.
 
Personally, I don't believe they'd have a leg to stand on.  Your evidence is
hearsay, the technical specifications as released by Atari are not false,
and there are any number of ST-oriented magazine articles (which do NOT quote
Atari officials) which clearly label some of the things you believe were
promised as "rumor" ... Atari cannot control rumor except to state, as they
have over the last few years, "we will announce no new product before its time".
 
By the way -- showing something at COMDEX does _not_ constitute an announcement
unless they start distributing technical specifications, as Atari did in
Germany with the TT.
 
-- David Paschall-Zimbel
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 17 Nov 89 10:49:25 GMT
From:
 genbank!uwm.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!uxa.cso.uiuc.edu!glk01126@app
le.com
Subject: GDOS - basic information wanted
 
        That GDOS information file was posted on here umpteen million
        times.  It is available from panarthea and terminator.
 
        -Spieu!
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 15 Nov 89 15:09:40 GMT
From:
 snorkelwacker!spdcc!merk!alliant!linus!nixbur!nixpbe!peun11!capit@tut.cis.ohio-
state.edu  (Capitain)
Subject: MAC: a shareware Mac emulator
 
Hi, I have the idea of releasing a SHAREWARE MAC EMULATOR and would
like to get some comments on that. First, a little history:
(all playing in Germany)
 
I developed this emulator starting in 1986/87. Some friends of mine
had a small software company and were willing to make a commercial
product out of this emulator. In the end of 1986 Magic Sac appeared
in Europe. It seemed that Apple wasn't much concerned about it. So
in April 1987 we released our emulator under the name of Aladin.
After a few weeks Magic Sac had nearly totally disappeared from Europe,
and European magazines agreed that Aladin was better than Magic Sac.
 
All right, but then came Apple (Germany). They raised two legal
proceedings against Aladin. They feared a decrease in businesses of
up to 30%, and this because of an emulator with the old 64K Roms!
They accused us of things, which were clearly wrong, but they put the
sum of dispute so high, that we couldn't afford a trial (the sum was
3,000,000 DM, something like $1,600,000). The first legal proceeding
had the effect that Aladin wasn't sold anymore in Germany since August
1987 (but still in Europe and some oversea countries), and the second,
that the company of my friends isn't selling Aladin anymore since
August 1989.
 
Now I got the idea of releasing the emulator as shareware. Of course I
can do this only with the parts that I have developed. This would be
the Mac emulator, supporting 64K Roms, HFS, harddisks, sound and printing
on Epson-like matrix printers, plus programs to transfer files from a
Mac to an ST using the serial ports. (I cannot offer the printer driver
for the Atari laserprinter.) The emulator runs system software 4.1,
including MacsBug and TMon. I know that this is not the state-of-the-art
in Mac emulation, but it would be shareware for about $40-$50.
 
You would need A KIND OF external device with the Mac Roms (64K), for
example a board for the ST's Rom-port and a Mac to get the software from.
 
If there's enough interest in such a kind of emulator (so that I could
live a couple of months from the donations) I would be glad to add other
features like support of 128K Roms (already prepared), or an "external
file system" to be able to use TOS disks under the Mac OS, or a "switcher"
to switch on-the-fly between TOS and Mac OS, or other things you would
like to be added.
 
Now I'd like to get some comments on this idea.
 
1) Do you think there is a market for such an emulator? I could release
   this version before Christmas.
2) Has anybody made experiences with sending shareware fees to Germany?
 
Thanks in advance, Pit
 
+------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+
!  US:  uunet!philabs!linus!nixbur!capitain.pad  !  Pit Capitain, DX-PC  !
!  not US:      mcvax!unido!nixpbe!capitain.pad  !  Nixdorf Computer AG  !
+------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 17 Nov 89 10:49:00 GMT
From:
 genbank!uwm.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!uxa.cso.uiuc.edu!glk01126@app
le.com
Subject: Uniterm Fonts
 
        I remember looking at that feature (<-?), it mentioned something
        about having to load gdos first.  Why would you want to change
        fonts anyway?
 
        -Spieu!
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 14 Nov 89 08:15:55 GMT
From:
 snorkelwacker!spdcc!merk!alliant!linus!nixbur!nixpbe!mboen@tut.cis.ohio-state.e
du  (Martin Boening)
Subject: v08i058: drachen -- Game (mono only)  part01/02
 
Hello again,
 
recently I sent in 'Drachen' to Steven and he was kind enough to post it
very promptly. He did put in a remark however, that he didn't know what
it was all about and that the texts were in German. He is perfectly
correct, and therefore here is a translation of that first text screen
you see when you start the program. As an aside: 'Drachen' means dragon
and I'll just use that as from now on. Nearly everything is a direct
translation. For the explanation of the dropdown menus I used the string
as it appears and appended the translation directly below it in
parentheses. The stuff in square brackets are remark by me to clear up
what I thought it might lead to misunderstandings. These remarks are
concluded by my initials.
 
---- start quote: note that I didn't write this, just translated it -----
Dragon is a game from China, over 2500 years old. 144 pieces are set up
on a board in 5 levels to form a Chinese dragon. The purpose of the game
is to remove all pieces from the board. To achieve this at any time two
identical pieces may be removed, iff there is no other piece on the
lefthand side or the righthand side of either piece on the same level. Easy,
isn't it.
 
Some further remarks about the pieces themselves. There are 34 types of
pieces and of each type there are 4 pieces. The only exceptions are the
sets of pieces labelled BAM, MUM, ORC and PLUM and SPR, SUM, AUT and WIN.
The pieces from either set are regarded as identical to any other from
that set when removed.
 
To make the whole thing more interesting, you play against the clock. The
10 best players are recorded in a high score.
 
And now, some remarks about the Drop-down menus:
'Spielwiederholung'     a new time record cannot be set!
(repeat last game)
 
'zeige Zug'             all moves possible at this stage are shown one at
(show next move)        a time in random order (this is the only help
                        allowed).
 
'Zug zuruecknehmen'     this is cheating, so timing is stopped.
(cancel last move)
 
'Stein wegnehmen'       take away any one piece - of course, this is cheating
(remove a piece)        too, so timing stops.
 
'Demo'                  iff all 144 pieces are still in place the demo
                        (schnell == fast, langsam == slow) will show the
                        best way to remove them all.
 
[The remarks in tiny print: (M.B.)]
This game is public domain and to be copied as often as possible! If you
like this game, you can of course show your appreciation by sending in a
10 D-Mark bill [to the address given below. This is about 5 $ (M.B.)] For
20 Marks [10 $ (M.B.)] you can get the source code written in GFA basic
[probably with German remarks. BTW, GFA basic is one of the fastest Basics
around for the ST. There is now Version 3.0 available with compiler (M.B.)]
 
[and then there was the address of the author, bordered by side- and front
view of the game setup (M.B.)]
 
                        Dirk Woitha
                        Hebbelstr. 11
                   5630 Remscheid  11
                [  West Germany, of course (M.B.)]
 
---- end quote -----------------------------------------------------------
 
So, if you want to send in 10 Marks, do so to the address in the quote
(since I DIDN'T write the stuff).
 
The description of the dropdown menu pertains to the rightmost menu entry
only, as far as I can see. BTW, 'Datei' is 'File' and 'Ende' is 'Quit',
if you didn't find that out by trial and error already.
 
To select a piece just move the mouse pointer to int and click the left
button once. The piece is inverted upon that and you can go to the
corresponding piece with the pointer and click that too. If the pieces
match, they disappear. If they don't match, the piece selected first
is freed and the piece you clicked last is inverted.
 
But what am I telling you. Simply play around a bit, look at one or two
demos and you'll get the gist of the game fast enough.
 
So have fun playing.
 
Martin
--
Email: in the   USA ->  ...!uunet!philabs!linus!nixbur!mboening.pad
       outside  USA ->  ?...!mcvax?!unido!nixpbe!mboening.pad
Paper Mail: Martin Boening, Nixdorf Computer AG, DS-CC22,
            Pontanusstr. 55, 4790 Paderborn, W.-Germany
 
------------------------------
 
End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #667
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