Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!rutgers!cbmvax!andy
From: andy@cbmvax.UUCP (Andy Finkel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: ARP commands--How do you make them so small?
Message-ID: <4543@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: 23 Aug 88 13:43:27 GMT
References: <3633@louie.udel.EDU>
Reply-To: andy@cbmvax.UUCP (Andy Finkel)
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 68

In article <3633@louie.udel.EDU> iphwk%MTSUNIX1.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (Bill Kinnersley) writes:
>        Instead of going the ARP route and writing everything in
>assembler, an easier approach is to find a way to interface C to this
>library.  An example of how to do this is shown below.

>Bill Kinnersley

I've thought long and hard for a suitable response.  On one hand,
I applaud the intellectual search for knowledge.  On the other hand,
I hope this doesn't show up in a commercial product.  (I hate
to have my options limited.)


Anyway, I think Roger Zelazny, in his excellent book _Lord of Light_
tells it best...

------------------------

"It begins with a doorway.  There is a huge, burnished
 metal door, erected by the First, that is heavy as sin,
 three times the height of a man and half that distance
 in width. It is a full cubit thick and bears a head-sized
 ring of brass, a complicated pressure-plate lock and an
 inscription that reads, roughly, "Go away. This is not a
 place to be. If you do try to enter here, you will fail
 and also be cursed. If somehow you suceed, then do not
 complain that you entered unwarned, nor bother us
 with your deathbed prayers."  Signed, "The Gods."

 [...]

 It is told that Pannalal the Sage, having sharpened
 his mind with meditation and diverse asceticisms, had
 divined the operation of the lock and entered Hellwell,
 spending a day and a night beneath the mountain.  He
 was thereafter known as Pannalal the Mad."

-------------------------

I think that sums it up just about perfectly :-) (sorry Bill)

Right now, the Universe of Programs that we break by playing
with the (undocumented on purpose) BCPL global vector and
associated libraries is small, and known.  We could handle the
screams of outrage if we changed things (I think).   If the Universe
of Programs that count on this stuff gets large, it becomes
harder.
(Its our plan to provide C library interfaces to the useful routines at some
 point in the future.)

Think of this as fair warning.  I like the spirit of experimentation...
as long as the fruits of discovery don't automatically become something
to be counted on.

(_Lord of Light_ is a must book, btw.  I think its one of
 Zelazny's best; and, like all true classics, has a bearing on
 many situations you encounter in life; The passage quoted above is
 a perfect example...it fits the situation *so* well.  The book review
 is concluded; we now return you to the regular discussion of
 proper pronunciation of punctuation found in comp.sys.amiga. )
-- 
andy finkel		{uunet|rutgers|amiga}!cbmvax!andy
Commodore-Amiga, Inc.

"If we can't fix it, it ain't broke."

Any expressed opinions are mine; but feel free to share.
I disclaim all responsibilities, all shapes, all sizes, all colors.