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From: peter@graffiti.UUCP (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: net.micro.mac,net.micro.amiga,net.micro.atari
Subject: Re: Ban the binaries!
Message-ID: <465@graffiti.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 23-Nov-85 09:40:27 EST
Article-I.D.: graffiti.465
Posted: Sat Nov 23 09:40:27 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 25-Nov-85 07:52:54 EST
References: <1600@cbosgd.UUCP> <646@k.cs.cmu.edu>
Organization: The Power Elite, Houston, TX
Lines: 34
Xref: watmath net.micro.mac:3580 net.micro.amiga:843 net.micro.atari:1750

I originally posted the following to net.news.group only, but it does address
a point that needs to be made... to wit, that while UNIX implies portability,
portability does not imply UNIX.

> The Mac is not UNIX.  There is not one relatively standard compiler that
> everyone uses.  #ifdef's just don't cut it, because the compilers are very
> different from each other.  The idea of distributing source only is,
> frankly, stupid, and people who have programmed so little on the Mac that
> they would make such a suggestion should not be going around pretending to
> be experts.

Well how about getting together & doing something about making these radically
different languages pull together a bit more? Over in net.amiga there has been
a little discussion on trying to write programs that can be ported easily
between the AMIGA, the ST, and the MAC. If the MAC can't even port to the Mac
not only does this cut Mac users out of this game but it hardly makes the Mac
look like a real computer... for the rest of us or not. If what you say is
true and unavaoidable I've just lost most of my considerable respect for the
Macintosh and its user community.

After all... ifdefs do cut it everywhere else. It's possible with a little
work to write a program that can compile and run on the IBM-PC with a variety
of compilers, VMS, *and* various semi-compatible flavors of UNIX. The same
program, mind you...

[On further consideration... this would definitely make a useful net.software.
project. Someone might even get a paper on "porting programs between radically
different environments" or something. Hey, Ken, ever considered porting curses
to the Macintosh? :->]
-- 
Name: Peter da Silva
Graphic: `-_-'
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