Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site tty3b.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!gummo!whuxlb!pyuxll!eisx!npoiv!npois!hogpc!houxm!ihnp4!we13!otuxa!tty3b!mjk
From: mjk@tty3b.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.graphics
Subject: Re: from the horse's keyboard
Message-ID: <188@tty3b.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 23-Aug-83 15:38:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: tty3b.188
Posted: Tue Aug 23 15:38:09 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 24-Aug-83 10:31:02 EDT
References: <2134@alice.UUCP>
Organization: Teletype Corp., Skokie, Ill
Lines: 28

If Rob Pike is the horse, I don't know what we are here at Teletype.  I
won't speculate, either.

Since there is some confusion over what applies to the blit and what to the
5620, maybe this note will help clear that up.

The 5620 is a redesign of the Blit, incorporating many of Rob's (and others)
ideas.  It uses a 32-bit micro (the BELLMAC-32 [trademark of Western Electric])
and come with 256K bytes RAM, 64K bytes ROM standard.  The memory is planned to be
expandable to 1 MB RAM, 256K ROM.  The 5620 software is pretty much a straight
"clean up and port" of some of the Blit software.  Because of the limited bandwidth
of the porters (and the seemingly limitless bandwidth of Blit software developers),
I have to say "some"; in the first release (this November), not all Blit software
will be available for the 5620.  Suffice to say that the most important pieces
(Tek 4014 emulation, multiple windows, jim text editor, cross-compiler and debugger) will be.  Some others (font editor, fancier terminal program) may be.  But don't
worry that the rest of the Blit software won't be forthcoming; it will be.

All Rob's other comments about usefulness of windows on the Blit apply
equally to the 5620.  The ability to have a program assume control
of a window is a very powerful feature.  It means, as Rob indicated, that
you can do terminal emulation.  It means you can design a custom terminal
personality and load it into a window.  Imagine a terminal designed to run
vi (if that's your favorite editor); if you can write a program to implement
that terminal, you can convert windows on your 5620 into that "vi terminal".

Mike Kelly
Teletype Corp. R&D
..!ihnp4!tty3b!mjk