Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!m2c!ulowell!page
From: page@swan.ulowell.edu (Bob Page)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: USENET REVIEWS & USENET Seal of Approval
Message-ID: <5677@swan.ulowell.edu>
Date: 24 Mar 88 16:07:42 GMT
References: <540@lakesys.UUCP>
Reply-To: page@swan.ulowell.edu (Bob Page)
Organization: University of Lowell, Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 67

Good to see such interest!

However ... it's not what I had in mind.  The "USENET Seal of Approval"
only certifies that the program is well-behaved, and doesn't attempt
to test all the functions looking for bugs, or determining ease of use.
In effect, it's not a 'review' at all.

I suppose the two could be combined into one, but what I wanted was
a checklist of things that programmers fall into when they program the
Amiga.  If Everything was done OK, they get the approval.  If even one
thing fails, they don't get the OK.

Stuff like an index in the manual isn't so important at this level.

joe@lakesys.UUCP (Joe Pantuso) wrote:
>I really want this to happen.  I believe it has a tremendous potential as a
>source of information and a way for companies to advertise cheaply.  In this
>manner very small companies, or shareware authors, could get reviews in.
>Instant publicity.
>        I believe that it would have to be officially recognized by Commodore,
>and they would hopefully inform magazines and companies. This would make NR
>more legitimate.

Again, these are Good Things, but not what I was talking about, as the
'Amiga System Nice' checklist doesn't have to be officially recognized
by Commodore, and the only benefit a company would get is "yes, it
passes" or "no, it fails these tests."

>There would be guidlines.  There would be ratings systems.  It would
>be comprehensive and your ultimate source of information for almost
>ANY purchase.

Again, nice stuff, but different.

So just what am I talking about, you ask?  Here are some quick thoughts,
off the top of my head:

 Does it call Delay(0)?
 Does it call WaitForChar(0)?
 Does it take over the machine?
 Does it fail when used with Fast RAM?
 Does it fail when used with $C00000 memory?
 Does it work with KS 1.1?
 Does it OpenLibrary(name, 0L) when it really wants version 33 (or so) ?
 If it has menus, does it provide keyboard shortcuts? (for >50% of the items?)
 Does it fail on disk full?
 Does it fail on disk read/write error?
 Does it fail on memory full?
 Does it fail on RAM disk full?
 Does it fail when memory is too fragmented?
 Does it lose memory on each run?
 Does it ignore return codes from AllocMem?
 Does it ignore return codes from OpenLibrary?  OpenDevice?
 Does it allow the user to abort/stop the program with ^C or ^D?
 Does it fail when it can't find a particular file?
 Does it Forbid() or Disable() for long periods of time?
 Does it use Intuition-standard items (Menu placement, Amiga keys, etc)

and a whole lot more.  You get the idea?  Programmer traps.  It's possible
to detect these things, even in a compiled program.

I've already started getting some ideas in the email.  Keep 'em coming!

..Bob
-- 
Bob Page, U of Lowell CS Dept.  page@swan.ulowell.edu  ulowell!page
		"Nicaragua" is Spanish for "Vietnam."