Xref: utzoo comp.lang.fortran:456 comp.lang.pascal:619 comp.sys.ibm.pc:12293 Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!oddjob!hao!ames!eos!aurora!labrea!decwrl!decvax!mandrill!hal!ncoast!btb From: btb@ncoast.UUCP (Brad Banko) Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran,comp.lang.pascal,comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Pecan Software "steals" $100 from me Message-ID: <7432@ncoast.UUCP> Date: 23 Feb 88 00:02:21 GMT Distribution: comp Organization: Cleveland Public Access UN*X, Cleveland, OH Lines: 69 The proof is in the pudding, and there won't be any "Pecans" in mine. (flame on CCC===<<<<<<<<<<-<<<_<<<<<< ) Several weeks ago, I posted an article about some interesting development products from: Pecan Software Systems 1410 39th Street Brooklyn, NY 11218 718-851-3100 These include F77, UCSD Pascal, Modula2 & BASIC language systems available for a wide variety of machines (Amigas, IBM PC's, Atari ST's, PDP's, Macintoshes, and others). The really neat thing about these systems is that they support a common Turtlegraphics graphics interface across machines, which I figured would be ideal for scientific applications programming. It sounds almost too good to be true, and for me it was. I ordered the F77 system for MSDOS to try out. I was a little suspicious about dealing with a company with a Brooklyn, NY address, and I should have trusted my instincts. First mistake, they sent me the UCSD Pascal system instead of F77. I thought, "OK, I can play with this to get a feel for their stuff, and then send back the Pascal in exchange for F77." It is a pretty nice little environment, but it has one "feature/bug" which really annoys me, Pecan apparently decided that they want to support a common development ENVIRONMENT across different machines, so they run their own "virtual" file system on top of MSDOS, so that all of your files reside in these huge MSDOS files, the size of which you must declare ahead of time. I imagine that Pecan has modelled this system on the environment of UCSD Pascal, but on this I am only speculating, because I have never worked in a UCSD Pascal environment. Well, I tried out a demo turtlegraphics program, and it worked fine, so I started to wonder just how the turtlegraphics was implemented in the F77 version. I called the technical support line, and I got some woman who didn't seem to know what I was talking about and neither did she care. I called back the next day, and got the same stupid woman (on their technical support line!). After she yanked me around for several minutes by giving me evasive (unwilling to say, "I don't know, but I'll find out.") answers, she put me on hold to "find out". I waited on hold for about 5 minutes, and then hung up, realizing that Pecan was obviously not going to work out for me. ("I'll just stick with Microsoft Fortran and Heartland Software's excellent HGRAPH package.", I decided.) I asked our purchasing people to return the package for a refund, but Pecan refused it. I called up to find out why, and they told me that I had to have a "return authorization", so I asked for one on the basis that I didn't like the package, and that it wasn't what the advertising had led me to expect, and Pecan refused to let me return it. And so, the origin of this post. I have learned: - to trust my instincts and avoid businesses located in Brooklyn - to avoid Pecan Software, and - to stick with "big blue" (i.e., Microsoft) I don't know if anybody else on the net has had dealings with Pecan, but I sure regret mine. (To the tune of $100.) But, I'm not giving up. Next stop, the Brooklyn Better Business Bureau (if they have one). I am disgusted with Pecan Software. -- Brad Banko Columbus, Ohio (formerly ...!decvax!cwruecmp!ncoast!btb) btb%ncoast@mandrill.cwru.edu "The only thing we have to fear on this planet is man." -- Carl Jung, 1875-1961