Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bu-cs!bucsb!shack
From: shack@bucsb.UUCP (Randy Shackelford)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: ProDOS
Keywords: lock (get it?)
Message-ID: <1757@bucsb.UUCP>
Date: 14 Jun 88 02:29:42 GMT
Organization: Boston Univ Comp. Sci.
Lines: 77

terranova@vms.macc.wisc.edu writes:

>What?!?  ProDOS is close (anywhere near) a real OS?  Since when?
Have there been that many major changes to ProDOS from when I used
>>to use it all the time (a couple years ago)?  Sure, ProDOS is a
>>>small<< step in the right direction, but it is meager, at best
>(sorry, Apple).

>Perhaps we don't agree as to what a real OS is.  Let me enumerate:

It seems we don't agree as to what ProDOS is. It is a collection of routines
that hang out in your machine's language card memory and does the following:

reads/writes disk blocks and files
services interrupts caused by hardware
creates/deletes/renames/sets access attributes of files
reads date/time from a clock
checks what volumes are available to the system

These and similar things are ALL the ProDOS kernel does. What these routines
do and how, when, and why they do it are determined by whatever system program
is running at the given time. This is because ProDOS was designed to be a 
general purpose OS. This means it can do anything the author of a SYS
program makes it do.

>	- multi-tasking (I guess this rules out most micros)
        It would be a good idea to have hardware capable of this first.
>	- I/O re-direction
        SYS programs exist (several of 'em in fact) which do this very thang
        in addition to many other UNIX-like stuff.
>       - device independence
        ProDOS has had this since day one. but since you seem not to know
        what ProDOS is, perhaps you did not notice this.
>	- piping (this can be done without m-t)
        See above.
>	- virtual memory (on a 6502?  yea, right)
        Let's see - you bad-talk the hardware and don't like the software.
        What are/were you doing using an Apple II?

>Anyone care to add to this list?

We've heard enough ca-ca for the time being.

>It is interesting to note that I believe all of the above (except
>virtual memory) can be done on a //e/c.  At one time (I'm talking
>just a few weeks ago) I was half tempted to implement a shell to
>overlay ProDOS and achieve most of the above.
>Two things stopped me:
>	1) I don't use a //c anymore (now it is my parent's)
>	2) I hate assembly language
>	  a. I have never seen any decent, cheap C/Pascal compilers

This proves you have been hiding under a rock. What you wanted to do has been
done several times already and good compilers DO exist for II's (IIgs anyway.)

>Perhaps someone out there will pick up my fallen cause and get the job
>done.  (Personally, I'd rather waste my time programming a Mac than a

That's YOUR problem.

>// [sorry]).  I would love to be able to type something like:
>	ls /bin>out | more
>on a // and have it function as expected.

Enough said.

>Well, enough of my ranting and raving.  If anyone out there decides to
>give this a try, mail me.  I'd love to share what I learned and give
>any tips or hints that I think may help.

Talk to the ones who did it. I'm sure Don Elton, Dave Lyons, et al will
discuss with you how they did it. With the aid of their programs and others,
us II users can sit there using our real OS and being happy.

Randy Shackelford   shack@bucsb.bu.edu

"I want my UUCP"