Re: [MiNT] New MiNT distribution is n.. ..project

["Konrad M. Kokoszkiewicz" <draco@obta.uw.edu.pl>]

> RioRed related messages. I'd like to know why : are MiNT gurus uninterested
> in the RioRed project ? Are they just "waiting'n seeing" for the RioRed to
> come out before speaking about it ?

I would say the latter is the answer. You know, there were many
announcements last four years, and what, only Milan became reality (I
don't mean that it is bad, the "only" is related to the number of
announcements).

Anyways, I am not quite sure the new machine/platform would be "an Atari"
still. I personally don't have anything against fast machines and efforts
made to bring us new hardware, contrary, but I must personally say I am
still amazed with the simplicity and elegance of the m68k design... from
the assembly programmer point of view, obviously. I understand that new
processor would make any m68k experience useless, although without any
doubt it may result in a number of marvellous programs. Provided people
buy the hardware. Mixed feelings in other words.

Another topic a bit

Someone here said about VDI that (IIRC) if there is a need to port the
entire VDI to any new graphic card, 90% of programmers will do nothing but
writing VDI drivers. That's damn true. Before we cry on the little number
of new software appearing, we must understand some general problem
programmers may have writing application software for Atari (and
compatibles). Well, the problem is a lack of a general environment. No, I
don't mean a programming environment (and editor and a compiler is
perfectly okay), but rather an operating environment. Briefly, if a
programmer must know everything about BIOS, GEMDOS, VDI, AES whatever to
write even a simple program (e.g. a GEM version of 'Hello world'), we will
never have programs.

I personally dream about a hudge number of application servers (like
syslog is for example) offerring complex functions. Also about a huge
number of shared libraries, which would be comon and handy. Example, a
library providing a simple single-file text editor, a library for
processing config files, a library for anything else. The point is, that
if I want to provide a simple editing function in a program, I must now
write an editor from scratch. Et cetera.

Modularity (someone has already used this word) would be the answer I
would like. As long as we keep supporting TOS ("my program will work even
on TOS 1.0"), we will never see software that uses the full possibilities
sleeping inside MiNT as a multitasking OS. From THIS point of view,
abandoning m68k in favour of a Power PC processor would be damn good
thing, since native PPC programs would not work on TOS machines and hence
we wouldn't have to worry about that disaster (Single TOS) anymore.

--
Konrad M.Kokoszkiewicz
|mail: draco@atari.org                  |  Atari Falcon030 user   |
|http://www.obta.uw.edu.pl/~draco/      | Moderator gregis LATINE |
|http://draco.atari.org                 |       (loquentium)      |

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