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From: walton@ametek.UUCP (Steve Walton)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Compiler wars (FLAME AHEAD)
Message-ID: <814@ulowell.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 3-Dec-86 15:40:40 EST
Article-I.D.: ulowell.814
Posted: Wed Dec  3 15:40:40 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 4-Dec-86 00:11:33 EST
Sender: page@ulowell.UUCP
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Jeff Gortatowsky writes (about Manx's 3.40 update coming out in January):
>This is very disappointing.  As part of the incentive for buying the
>commercial version of their compiler is a year of free updates, I feel
>a bit 'taken'.  I bought Manx (directly from them) sometime in the
>February/March 1986 time frame.  It seems if the above is true, I'll
>be darn lucky to just 'squeak in' one update.  I'm not directly
>flaming Manx.. I understand they had to delay for 1.2.  It's just
>disappointing.

My understanding of the current situation, based on various postings from
Jim Goodnow to the WELL, is that ALL current owners of both the commercial
($500) AND developer ($300) package will receive the update free, no matter
how long it takes to go out the door.  Owners of the commercial package
have been (should have been?) receiving beta-test versions of the new
release, many of which have been sufficiently bug-free to use for production
work.  I believe that owners of the commercial package will also receive
the next update after the current one free, but call Manx and check.

#define FLAME ON
#if !defined(SENSITIVE_EYES) 
   As for the Lattice update:  Ho, hum, now Lattice gives you what Manx
had in its last release, for a mere $75 update fee.  For $225, they'll
also throw in a Make utility which is 48K long and doesn't have a
default .c to .o rule built in (according to the review in Issue #8 of
Amazing Computing), as well as a touch program which is 19K long.  How
many of you have 67K free on your C development disk?  The PD make
which I just ported to the Amiga (but won't distribute until 1.2 and
the new Aztec compiler arrive) is 21K long and has such a built-in
rule.  The Aztec one is similar.  My advice:  save your money, sell
your Lattice compiler to some poor sucker, and buy 3.40 of Aztec even
if it isn't out until January.  In-line 68020/68881 code, a make
utility, a linker which can detect and use standard Amiga-format object
files and libraries, and code which, I'm willing to wager, will still
be smaller and faster and quicker to develop than Lattice's even if you
use BLINK.  If it sounds like I'm down on Lattice, well, I am.  Here at
work, we have a high-priced license for Lattice's UNIX->MS/DOS cross
compiler, Version 3.10 of which is now almost a year late.  The last
beta version which we received pushed the two words of long constants
onto the stack in the wrong order...
#endif
#undef FLAME_ON
					Steve Walton
					ametek!walton@csvax.caltech.edu
My employer disavows any knowledge of my actions.