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From: rupley@arizona.edu (John Rupley)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: C Users' Group
Message-ID: <2748@megaron.arizona.edu>
Date: Sat, 7-Nov-87 23:00:37 EST
Article-I.D.: megaron.2748
Posted: Sat Nov  7 23:00:37 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 10-Nov-87 05:08:38 EST
References: <2191@kitty.UUCP> <1406@bsu-cs.UUCP>
Organization: U of Arizona CS Dept, Tucson
Lines: 45
Keywords: CUG, comments
Summary: CUG, comments, history

In article <1406@bsu-cs.UUCP>, dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) writes:
> In article <2191@kitty.UUCP> larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) writes:
> >	Does anyone have any comment on the usefulness of becoming a member
> >of the "C Users' Group" and receiving their monthly newsletter?
> 
> They were demanding a list of serial numbers of all C compilers you
> owned as a condition for joining--sounded like a front for the FBI.

The comment about the FBI is a bit unfair.  First, CUG no longer 
requires a "site license."  Second, a site license was reasonable when 
CUG started.  It was formed to distribute code hacked for the BDS-C 
compiler, and much of the material included proprietary sections. In 
those days, BDS-C was all one had for CP/M systems.  But this "all" was 
a lot.  Leor Zolman, BDS-C's author, may have contributed as much as 
the AT&T fabled figures to the current popularity of C.  He supplied 
full sources (kernel in assembler, libraries in C) for a compiler that 
was not quite K&R but was unbelievably fast and produced unbelievably 
fast and compact code (unbelievable at least for those who are used to 
the Portable C Compiler on larger and faster machines).  BDS-C became 
the vehicle for some of the best-written and most useful code for CP/M 
machines.  One can argue that this was the nucleation event for the 
explosion of C code and C compilers for the IBM PC environments.  I 
imagine that there are more writers of C code working on or for ms-dos 
machines than on Unix mainframes.

But CUG no longer is targeted for BDS-C.  Essentially all of the
source code it distributes is in the public domain, and I believe that
none is that #$%&* shareware.  Some code is still for CP/M machines,
most is for MS-DOS or UNIX.

Why join CUG?  There is little overlap with the net, not with 
comp.sources nor with comp.lang.  So you get a different view.  Also, 
InfoPro's "The C Journal" has been merged with "The C Users' Group 
Newsletter", giving style and content a kick.  The November issue has 
an exceptionally literate article on yacc.  The software distributions 
include items that net readers might want and cannot find in 
comp.sources, eg, the 3.9 distribution of Microemacs.  And membership 
is cheap ($20). The address: CUG, Box 97, McPherson, KS 67460.


John Rupley
    uucp: ..{ihnp4 | hao!noao}!arizona!rupley
    telex: 9103508679(JARJAR)
    Dept. Biochemistry, Univ. Arizona, Tucson  AZ  85721
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