Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watmath!watdragon!tiger!achowe
From: achowe@tiger.waterloo.edu (anthony howe)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: ROM disassembly for TOS
Message-ID: <16309@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
Date: 11 Sep 89 10:38:25 GMT
Sender: daemon@watdragon.waterloo.edu
Reply-To: achowe@tiger.waterloo.edu (anthony howe)
Organization: U. of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 36



I'm all for fully commented offical TOS listings. It garrantees machine
survival by an extra 8 years. My first computer was an  
<< Exidy Sorcerer >>. Remember those? Exidy published commented Monitor
listings and if they had not the machine would not have survived as long
as it did after they stop production of the line. I lived in Australia
at the time and we had a strong CP/M following. We created new ROMS that
maintained routine positions for those who did little nasty monitor
calls. We had plotters, ingraving machines, HAM radio devices, improved
third party BASICS, disk BIOSes, and more which I can't remember, all
working off 64k Z80 machine. They had published schmatics too and every
who owned one learned more about programming and hardware than is 
possible today with 'modern micros'. Every on at the club would say that
because they could hold of these docs at any dealer that is was the best
machine for development. In a way I sometime regret every selling it.
If I remember correctly, the old Apple II also had ROM listings and
schmatics too and look how well that machine has servived.

I understand Atari reluctence about improper use but the I believe that
the learning benifits and ideas that come from view such material out
weigh the carelessness of some developers. Also what are the odds that
Atari will provide us with a TOS 2.0 that has all the bell and whistles
people want before people switch to a new machine. I don't for see Atari
every producing another TOS release with all their other projects on the
go like the TT. Producing ROM listings now will prolong the existence of
the ST and with third party add-ons and replacements, might even push up
sales even more everywhere.

- Ant


  achowe@tiger.waterloo.edu     | "Life is not fair. Anyone who tells
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