Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!wuarchive!kuhub.cc.ukans.edu!2fmlcalls
From: 2fmlcalls@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: System 7 (More Ideas for INITS)
Message-ID: <1991May1.032850.30241@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu>
Date: 1 May 91 08:28:50 GMT
References: <1991Apr30.085554.18064@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu> <18839@sdcc6.ucsd.edu>
Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services
Lines: 24

In article <18839@sdcc6.ucsd.edu>, bochen@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Meathead) writes:
> As I understand it, one of the best things about system 7.0 is that
> it should eventually improve compatibility.  95% of my bugs with
> 6.07 can be traced to some damn INIT that I can't live without.  I'm
> hoping that I can cut at least 70% of my INIT's when I get 7.0.  In
> summary, I think that writing INIT's are not the greatest idea and
> perhaps a program could be made that runs in conjunction with MF
> rather than an INIT.  
> 
> 
> ** Meathead **

I agree totally.  INITs are a programmers worse nightmare (when someone tells
you that the program you wrote crashes when init X is loaded up, what are you
supposed to do - tell them "Don't use init X" :) ).
I would point out however that many of the INITs that you *cant live without*
probably could not exist as background-only applications.  I've steered away
from writing INITs (not easy I hear), but my understanding is that many of them
require tail patching ToolBox traps - something that must be done at start-up
if they're to affect all apps.  The neatest thing I've seen though was Darkness
- a faceless, background-only screen saver.  We could sure use more things like
that where possible.

john calhoun