Path: utzoo!dptcdc!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!portal!atari!apratt
From: apratt@atari.UUCP (Allan Pratt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: GFA Basic
Message-ID: <1458@atari.UUCP>
Date: 17 Apr 89 19:34:01 GMT
References: <8904131945.AA22979@bu-it.BU.EDU> <3234@cs.dal.ca>
Reply-To: apratt@atari.UUCP (Allan Pratt)
Organization: Atari (US) Corporation, Sunnyvale, California
Lines: 28

In article <3234@cs.dal.ca> bill@biomel.UUCP, biomel@cs.dal.CDN writes:
> In article <8904131945.AA22979@bu-it.BU.EDU> WELTE@BUPHYC.BU.EDU writes:
> >
> >Could someone send me a copy of either GFA Basic 3.0 or a GFA Run Only
> >program for V. 3.0?   I have 1.0 and 2.0 from the net, but they don't run
> >3.0. Thanks... Frank
> 
> GFA Basic is a commercial product and should not be distributed (or
> solicited) freely.

In what I consider A Smart Move, the GFA people placed their "run-only"
interpreter in the public domain.  That way someone can buy the
whole package, write a program, and distribute the program plus
the run-only interpreter so others who don't own GFA Basic can run it.

Moreover, they actually ENCOURAGE the widest-possible distribution for
the run-only interpreter.  It's on GEnie, CI$, etc., and of course GFA
BASIC programs appear in those places, too. 

I think this was a stroke of genius on their part: it has the advantages
of distributing a crippled "demo mode" program with none of the
disadvantages (both practical and political), and it lets people write &
distribute GFA programs without narrowing THEIR potential audience to
GFA Basic owners. 

============================================
Opinions expressed above do not necessarily	-- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp.
reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else.	  ...ames!atari!apratt