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From: fozzard@alumni.colorado.edu (Richard Fozzard)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: Mac is software - why not on NeXT?
Message-ID: <30018@boulder.Colorado.EDU>
Date: 19 Nov 90 23:15:26 GMT
References: <1990Nov13.045946.13088@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <1015@toaster.SFSU.EDU> <2420@krafla.rhi.hi.is>
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In article <2420@krafla.rhi.hi.is> aries@rhi.hi.is (Reynir Hugason) writes:
>The two most obvious questions it raises in my head are:
>
>   (1) Isn't the Macintosh ToolBox interface protected by copyright laws?
>       To back up my point, for example the Xerox Smalltalk-80 class library
>       IS protected by copyright and it makes no difference (as far as I can
>       see) whether or not I actually write my own version of it's methods or
>       not. I'm still copying there class-library. Am I not?
>
>   (2) Is anybody mad enough to take on their legal department?

Apparently someone is. The following is an excerpt from Abacus's press release
back in Feb '90. I have the whole press release if anyone is interested, but
know nothing else about this product.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Abacus Research and Development, Inc. (ARDI) is pleased to announce the
impending release of ROMlib(tm) V1.0, a set of C library routines with the
same syntax and semantics as the routines available on Apple Computer Inc.'s
Macintosh(tm) Plus computer.  ROMlib-V1.0 provides all the routines documented
in "Inside Macintosh" Volumes I-IV with a few exceptions noted below.  Although
ROMlib-V1.0 will only be available for use in X11 environments, there is little
dependence on X11, and experimental versions exist that write directly to
Sun "bwtwo"s and IBM PC "VGA"s.  ROMlib-V1.0, ARDI's first product is useful
for company's whose IS departments wish to run programs that were developed
in-house on Macintoshes on the myriad of UNIX(tm)/X11 available.  ROMlib-V1.0
is also useful for Independent Software Vendors that have written applications
on the Macintosh and would like to be out in front, shipping applications
into the UNIX market without the delay of a complete or partial rewrite.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's too bad this is only for X, but they do seem to imply that it's not
really dependent on X. Maybe someone could jump on this and convert these
routines for a NeXT. Could help woo a lot of Mac users with a big invest-
ment in software, methinks.
-- 
========================================================================
Richard Fozzard					"Serendipity empowers"
Univ of Colorado/CIRES/NOAA	R/E/FS  325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303
fozzard@boulder.colorado.edu                   (303)497-6011 or 444-3168