Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!osu-cis!tut!weaver
From: weaver@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Andrew Weaver)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Free Multitasking Kernel
Keywords: ATARI TOS RTX
Message-ID: <5425@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>
Date: 27 Jan 88 22:36:35 GMT
References: <122@bdt.UUCP>
Organization: OSU College of Business...where the fun starts
Lines: 45

[this is in response to David Beckmeyer's call for reasons for him]
[to release a 'free' multi-task replacement for TOS.              ]

David and net.folk:

	Why should you release RTX into the 'free' domain (whether
you make it 'PD' or 'freeware', but that is another stupid debate
that should be moved to /dev/null)?

	Why indeed.  Because I want it!  And other countless thousands
of ST users that want to use their machine for something other than a
graphics box that has no hope for a future.  Multitasking is good,
humans multitask and computers should (and more often than not DO.)

	Best of all, for Beckemeyer DevTools, it means money, Money
MONEY!  Just think, real, honest-to-goodness manuals for all the neat
routines (and, uh, just maybe a real set of documentation unlike that
sold by a certain nameless company, with the initials a-t-a-r-i.

	This would give BDT, at first anyhow, a small monopoly on new
multitask software until developers could begin.  And, if Atari Corp-
oration finally sees something useful to be had, Mr. Tramiel could
open up his oh-so-tight pursestrings and go into an agreement whereby
RTX gets burned into new ROMs and BDT makes a tidy sum (and perhaps 
becomes an "official" developer of RTX/TOS.  Or, better yet, Atari 
finally says, "gee, why don't we just get rid of the ROMs and make the
OS RAM resident" and not sell any machine with less than 1Mb.  What a 
great idea!  Now we only have to make disks and we can release updates
every few months instead of every few decades.")

	But those are my ideas.  Send flames to the address below, or
if you feel exhibitionist send them to the net.  I still like my ST,
but the next computer that I buy will be able to run Unix, and run 
it well.  The ST is nice, but it is unsupported by the company that
makes it, many crash frequently (including mine, but that's an
upcoming posting...) and are now overpriced.

	I know, I know "bitch, bitch, bitch" but, as they say, you
know where the 'k' and 'n' keys are.  Use them liberally, use them at
will.
-- 
Andrew Weaver, OSU College of Business            weaver@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
						  soon:    weaver@osu-pisa.UUCP
    PRIZE THE DOUBT 
low kinds live without.