Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!oddjob!uwvax!rutgers!att!mtuxo!mtgzz!drutx!druhi!med From: med@druhi.ATT.COM (Myron Drapal) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Another great quote from Mr. Good Message-ID: <3308@druhi.ATT.COM> Date: 3 Aug 88 18:24:24 GMT Distribution: comp Organization: AT&T, Denver, CO Lines: 42 From Computer Shopper August 1988, page 214: "Atari to Release Fourth Edition of TOS" ..... In an exclusive interview, chief TOS developer Roy J. Good stated that many planned improvements had to be cancelled due to lack of downward compatibility with applications written for the older TOS. Specifically mentioned was the update for the GEMDOS function malloc ($48), which is used to allocate memory for applications. Many programmers had written their own code to overcome the deficiencies of the older malloc, and this code will not run properly with the newer malloc in place. Roy Good called programs containing such code "misbehaved," products of "just flat-out bad programming." ..... ***Flame On*** Seems to me that this is another instance of the pot calling the kettle black! Atari, and their bug riddled malloc code (I should really include all of TOS here, since it's all pretty full of bugs), admonishing developers for fixing malloc any way they could. If it didn't take Atari 2+ years for each new version of TOS to hit the streets, maybe these developers could wait for a fixed version of malloc. I guess I really am taking exception to Roy J. Good being the "chief developer", since he really hasn't even been there a year yet. I really don't think that he has a clue as to what happened between the developers and Atari in those earily days. Some expert... ***Flame Off*** Just so I don't leave you without some good news, the rest of the article was very informative. It describes the fixes that are being included in the new version of TOS. Maybe I'll see one by Christmas 1990... Myron Drapal AT&T Denver att!druhi!med