Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!spool.mu.edu!mips!public!valentin
From: valentin@public.BTR.COM (Valentin Pepelea)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.programmer
Subject: Re: Information on Amiga Technical Reference Seri
Message-ID: <3117@public.BTR.COM>
Date: 19 Jun 91 04:44:34 GMT
Organization: BTR Communications, Mtn. View, CA
Lines: 50

In article <22539@cbmvax.commodore.com> peter@cbmvax.commodore.com (Peter
Cherna) writes:
>
>In article <3096@public.BTR.COM> valentin@public.BTR.COM (Valentin Pepelea) writes:
>>In article <22455@cbmvax.commodore.com> peter@cbmvax.commodore.com (Peter
>>Cherna) writes:
>
>>This is absolute nonesense. Nobody in his right mind would start using tricks
>>or undicumented features that would break their software in the future. This
>>cynical attitude has no place in this discussion.
>
>This "cynical" attitude is based on a significant amount of experience
>figuring out just which trick or undocumented feature dozens of pieces
>of software that people who claim to be in their right minds have indeed
>written for our computer.  The attitude not only belongs in this discussion,
>it is CENTRAL.

This is absolute nonesense. Are you now advocating the use of undocumented
features by patching the OS in such a way that stupid programs still work
under a new OS? Of course not.

What imbeciles do with a useful tool is irrelevant. The above example of yours
demontrated to what ridiculous lengths developers must go in order to make
their program do what they want. They had no access to the source code.
Perhaps if they had, they would have been able to figure out an OS friendly
way to accomplish their objective. Pure speculation, of course.  :-)

>>If you can afford the $450/year fee, plus the long distance phone charges.
>>Many of our contractors cannot afford this 'accesible' program.
>
>I believe you should look at the fee schedule again.  It's considerably
>less than that.

An I believe a retraction is in order!

>Please do not claim to know what is and isn't answered on Usenet.  I myself
>have answered countless individuals who have asked or reported a bug
>in the system.  When there is a problem in the OS, I tell them so.

Do you realize that you may be violating Commodore's policy? Divulgating bugs
to developers would not, but is it not Commodore's policy not to disclose the
existence of bugs? I ask because frankly, I don't know. Of course, such
a policy might be illegal, but that is another story.

Valentin
-- 
"An operating system without virtual memory      Name:      Valentin Pepelea
 is an operating system without virtue."         Phone:     (408) 985-1700
                                                 Usenet:    mips!btr!valentin
                     - Ancient Inca Proverb      Internet:  valentin@btr.com