Xref: utzoo unix-pc.general:170 comp.sys.att:2110
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!ames!amdahl!nuchat!flatline!erict
From: erict@flatline.UUCP (eric townsend)
Newsgroups: unix-pc.general,comp.sys.att
Subject: Re: SOFTWARE LIST FOR THE 3B1
Summary: Smart is useable on the PC
Message-ID: <300@flatline.UUCP>
Date: 18 Jan 88 16:55:23 GMT
References: <138@gizzmo.UUCP> <135@axcess.UUCP>
Organization: flatline in Houston(Montrose, really), Tx.
Lines: 32

In article <135@axcess.UUCP>, allbery@axcess.UUCP (Brandon S. Allbery) writes:
> If your previous experience is Unix, skip the Smart Software.  If this
> critter's the same on PClones as it is on the 3B1, it's no wonder I'd never
> heard of it before: the only thing I found even partially useable was the
> spreadsheet.

Well, we resell the Smart package as part of our software line, and on
a PC, it's not that bad.  It uses these DOS things called 'overlays'
that allow you to load your main body of code, then load different
sections of code *over* parts of that code for each major program you
want to run.  Gak. Ok, it looks like this:
+>:|
| :|
| :|
| :^----- 'Overlaid' code to turn the rest of the code into a word processor.
| :
| :
+>:
| ^------ 'Main' part of Smart executable, roughly 100K
|
+----  the code between the '+>'s is as big as the code will ever get.

This make any sense?  I hope so.  Anyway, on the unix-pc, this wouldn't
work.  Oh wait.  It *would*.  Overlays are kind of like a kluged shared
memory thing for DOS.  I would think that Smart could be recompiled
using shared memory.  Anyway...  under DOS it does all the same things,
just faster and in less memory.  The most Smart will take up on a DOS
machine is roughly 130k.  Gads.  It's hard to explain stupid DOS klugdes.
-- 
J. Eric Townsend ->uunet!nuchat!flatline!erict smail:511Parker#2,Hstn,Tx,77007
Just another journalist with too much computing power.| 'Hey, watch me ollie 
'Girls play with toys. Real women skate.' --Powell Peralta ad.| this <whump>'