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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbatt!ihnp4!lzaz!psc
From: psc@lzaz.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.lang.pascal
Subject: Re: Mystic PASCAL (and JRT Pascal)
Message-ID: <845@lzaz.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 10-Feb-87 13:25:40 EST
Article-I.D.: lzaz.845
Posted: Tue Feb 10 13:25:40 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 11-Feb-87 20:11:17 EST
References: <332@morgoth.UUCP> <1389@bnrmtv.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T Transaction Services, Lincroft NJ
Lines: 39
Summary: problems, but not a deliberate rip-off
Xref: watmath comp.sys.ibm.pc:1559 comp.lang.pascal:49

In article <1389@bnrmtv.UUCP>, perkins@bnrmtv.UUCP writes:
> > Has anyone heard of "Mystic Pascal"?
> > 	This is a $16 MS DOS Pascal compiler from:
> > 	Mystic Canyon Software
> > It sounds too good to be true.
> > Ken A. Glidden, {harvard|ll-xn|mirror|axiom}!adelie!morgoth!glidden
> 
> "Mystic Pascal" is a product of J.R. Tyson, who created "JRT Pascal"
> for the CP/M world.  The company went bankrupt amid a flurry of lawsuits
> and postal fraud investigations.  JRT had apparently advertised the
> program as complete and available, and taken money for copies of same,
> BEFORE ANY SUCH PROGRAM EXISTED.
> {hplabs,amdahl,3comvax}!bnrmtv!perkins        --Henry Perkins

Now *wait* a minute.  JRT Pascal was a real product.  It wasn't a real
*good* product; it had lots of bugs, and was an extremely limited
implementation of the language.  JRT was unable to turn checks into
shipped products fast enough (this was back when you didn't have to be
a good businessperson to make money in the personal computer industry -
for a while), and was one of the first well-known micro companies to go
bust.  Yes, many people did lose their money (thirty dollars, I think),
but it wasn't designed to be a scam.

PC Tech Journal reviewed Mystic Pascal in a big Pascal review early in
1986 (February or March or so, I think).  Mystic has *no* support for
variable length strings, and is still not a super implementation.  On
the plus side, it comes with a smart editor that does syntax checking
and "incremental compilation", which means that it compiles while you
type.  The perceived compilation speed is thus pretty darn fast.  It's
$16 with documentation on disk, or $32 with printed documentation.
Mystic Pascal is *not* public domain or shareware, just an inexpensive
commercial product.

JRT Pascal was bought up by Utah Computing or some such, and is now
sold under the name of Utah Pascal.  This is not a recommendation.

-Paul S. R. Chisholm, UUCP {ihnp4,cbosgd,allegra,vax135,mtgzz}!lznv!psc
AT&T Mail !psrchisholm, Internet mtgzz!lznv!psc@rutgers.rutgers.edu
The above history lesson has not been approved by any telecomm company.