[net.micro.atari] BASIC for ST

jeff@JPL-MILVAX.ARPA (SKALETSKY@SU-SCORE.ARPA:jeff@jpl-milvax.arpa,) (12/30/85)

Alan Kennington writes:

>I am very annoyed at the basic that I got for the ST.
>I've just finished writing some 16K of code that disassembles
>68K code. The program is really nice. But it doesn't work. And I have to
>blame the tools: this BASIC is pathetic!!!
>How could anybody possibly run anything on such a BASIC???
...
>But now I'd like to ask just one question. When is BASIC REALLY
>going to come out for the ST??? I mean one with a tolerable bug level!!!

Hal Hardenbaugh of Digital Acoustics used to publish a newsletter called
"DTACK Grounded".  He now occasionally mails his former subscribers a
newsletter of the same name that he refers to as junk mail.  Hal has
long been a fan of the 68000, but not of the Macintosh or of the Amiga.
He is writing a BASIC for the ST called HBASIC, which will sell for
around $80.  His primary complaint with the current BASIC is that it
takes up too much memory.  The only thing is, Hal is apparently going to
circumvent much of TOS for his BASIC.  He claims it will leave 400K free
for programs and data.  Don't know when it will be out.  I believe Hal
is based in Orange County, California, but I don't have the info handy.

>Surely DR knew about all the bugs. I know they were pressed.

I understand that Metacompco was the original author of Atari's BASIC.
I don't know if DR ever had anything to do with it.

Jeff Skaletsky
JEFF@JPL-MILVAX

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