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From: mj@myrias.UUCP (Michal Jaegermann)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: GEMDOS History
Message-ID: <551@myrias.UUCP>
Date: 4 Feb 88 17:23:43 GMT
References: <2697@dadla.TEK.COM> <1988Jan24.012514.26587@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu> <3005@drivax.UUCP>
Reply-To: mj@myriasa.UUCP (Michal Jaegermann)
Organization: Myrias Research Corporation
Lines: 48


    Bruce Holloway gave us his version of origins of GEMDOS.  One would
really would like to believe in all these stories about one mythical
evil system programmer.  There is only one fly in this ointment.  DRI,
as I understand, is responsible for a lot of other "goodies" on ST.
Let us see.  First GEM itself.  Is also full of bugs (should I include
a well-known list).  It does practically nothing else but puts slow and
unwieldy graphics shell on the top of your computer.  This shell has not
a slightest clue what is a search path, environement variable, etc.  Can
handle one file only at a time (with an exception of copying - but pray
that you do not have grab more files then slots in a window).  What is
more GEM was crippled from the very start because of missing integral
part - an infamous GDOS.  Therefore no proportional fonts, no device
independent output, no (actually) multiple virtual workstations.  In
other words - nothing from all these things for which one really suffers
and learn to live with cutesy, SLOW, graphics interfaces.  You may
continue this story on your own.
   Ok, wo what else we got from DRI.  Well known Alcyon C compiler in
which nobody bothered to fix even such simple things like error values
returned from every pass.  Accompanying "documentation" and tools were
of similar quality.  A recent message from Neil Harris indicates that
currently Atari values Alcyon C for $20, which seems to be generous.
   This was followed by the next DRI product included with ST, namely
Dr. Logo.  Probably one of worst Logo implementations which I ever
seen.  Both buggy (it rally cannot handle any more involved recursion)
and, once again, awfully slow.  Logo on 1MHz 9900 (TI99/4a) is much
faster and better done then DR.LOGO on 8MHz 68000.  Though the first one
is a little bit more cramped, due to somehow smaller memory available.
DR.LOGO is also no good for anything else, but some turtle play (if you
are really patient).  Reason - even rudimentary file access was
conveniently forgotten.
This LOGO was also graced with an editor which can be overtyped by a one
finger typist.  I guess that one has to write it in interpreter written
in slow BASIC to achieve that effect.
    The only redeeming feature in all of this is ST BASIC.  It was so
awfull, that nobody wanted to use it at all and everybody switched
immediately to other languages.  It this was a part of a master plan to
force good habits onto microcomputer users, then it succeded
admirably. Only I am not sure if DRI was responsible also for that.
   If all of above was one-month doing of a busy system programmer, then
this guy, for sure, had a quite hot month.

    Michal Jaegermann
    ...alberta!myrias!mj
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Disclaimer: All of the above are purely my personal opinions.  My
employer even does not know what is ST ( :-) ).
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