Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!news.cs.indiana.edu!msi.umn.edu!noc.MR.NET!gacvx2.gac.edu!gacvx2.gac.edu!scott Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: Freeware and the collapse of capitalism Message-ID: From: scott@texnext.gac.edu (Scott Hess) Date: 2 Apr 91 11:41:11 References: <9103310821.AA09756@nextasy2.eecs.wsu.edu> Organization: Gustavus Adolphus College Nntp-Posting-Host: texnext.gac.edu In-reply-to: dwatola@NEXTASY2.EECS.WSU.EDU's message of 31 Mar 91 08:22:25 GMTLines: 52 In article <9103310821.AA09756@nextasy2.eecs.wsu.edu> dwatola@NEXTASY2.EECS.WSU.EDU (David Watola) writes: J. Michael Ashley writes: >NeXT will never have strong software as long as this deluge of free software >exists. Has a situation similar to this existed in another economic market? next already has strong software. gcc is certainly a bad product to criticize on this point. can anyone name any other compiler that is a) freely distributed, with source code and documentation b) (at least) as bug-free as most other compilers on the market c) capable of handling (and enforcing strict rules for) strict-bsd, ansi, or 'old-style' C? d) easily ported to practically any other system? we run gcc on decstations, hp9000s, and nexts here. i personally got gcc running on our decstations in about 30 minutes--a few minutes to ftp the software and read the instructions, about 30 minutes to compile. e) fast I have to quibble on that last point. gcc is not fast. Well, yes, it is fast compared to most Unix compilers, but I mean fast compared to TurboC running on PCs. I used to have shorter compile times on old PS/2 (8086 at 10Mhz) than on the NeXT. This isn't all that bad (if it were, I'd have already begun work on the faster version :-), but it is true. BTW: If anyone out there wants to write a fast C compiler/development environment for the NeXT, give me a call. I'd help, or at the least give a list of what I want. Compilation speed is what I'm looking for - code space/speed is not such a big deal when gcc can whip that. Alternately, drop me a line so I can see what the interest in the community is . . . and what acceptable pricing for such a beast is. A note to Mr. Ashley - if you want to spend money on software, send me some . . . :-) Seriously, though, I've found that of all the software availiable on the NeXT, the cheap or free stuff seems without fail to have the better interface, and to more closely follow NeXT's UI guidelines, and just overall to be nicer. Then again, I don't really feel the need for spreadsheets or word processing software, so maybe I'm biased. But the blatant blunders I've seen seem to indicate that not only are large companies lacking in competitive ability, but they might also be lacking in gray matter - or at least common sense. Just an opinion. Later, -- scott hess scott@gac.edu Independent NeXT Developer GAC Undergrad "Simply press Control-right-Shift while click-dragging the mouse . . ." "I smoke the nose Lucifer . . . Banana, banana."