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From: jcav@quads.uchicago.edu (john  cavallino)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.emulations
Subject: Re: Emulator Mechanics (really Mac filesystem)
Message-ID: <1991Mar13.154837.5144@midway.uchicago.edu>
Date: 13 Mar 91 15:48:37 GMT
References: <19749@cbmvax.commodore.com> <1991Mar12.011418.24768@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> <19792@cbmvax.commodore.com>
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In article <19792@cbmvax.commodore.com> daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) writes:
>>I also wonder why readysoft used a special disformat for Mac disks
>>instead of reading Amiga disks.
>
>No doubt this was to make Mac software work on Amiga disks.  The Mac isn't
>as nice about filesystem independence as the Amiga is, so you can't really
>provide a loadable Mac filesystem kind of thing that maps Mac filespace
>into Amiga filespace adequately.  So ReadySoft essentially just built a new
>device driver, which uses Amiga-readable formats, but Mac filesystem 
>organization.
>
>This is apparently why Mac's don't generally talk to MS-DOS disks via an
>alternate filesystem like CrossDOS or MSH, but instead use a user program for 
>the conversion, along the lines of the old PC Utilities.  

Actually, the Macintosh OS has always supported installable external
filesystems.  Apple's AppleShare network fileserver client software is such
a beast.  So is Dayna's DOS Mounter, which, contrary to the above statement,
lets MS-DOS disk volumes appear like any others on the Finder desktop and
within application programs (although I believe it requires the 1.44mb
Superdrive to be present).  The "user programs" (such as Apple File Exchange)
of which you speak tend to be intended more for supporting the conversion
between different file formats (MS-DOS WordPerfect 5.1<->Mac MS Word 4.0,
etc.), as opposed to different filesystems, although they do that also.

-- 
John Cavallino                      |     EMail: jcav@midway.uchicago.edu
University of Chicago Hospitals     |    USMail: 5841 S. Maryland Ave, Box 145
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"Opinions, my boy. Just opinions"   | Telephone: 312-702-6900