info-mac@uw-beaver (12/07/84)
From: Jerry Callen <SYSTEMS.JLC@UChicago> I have had the same problems with Modula Corp - check cashed in mid-August, many unproductive phone calls, etc. Well, I eventually wrote a letter to the editor of Byte, with copies to Modula Corp and the western region postal inspector. All that netted me a beta test copy (under non-disclosure, of course) sometime in early November. I can't say much about what I got, except that it DOES work and it DOES have bugs. I think that this will ultimately be a pretty decent system - WHEN IT SHIPS!!!!! Meanwhile, I noted with some annoyance that this same Modula-2 compiler was mentioned in Jerry Pournelle's column this month in Byte, at the end of a segment on the Lilith machine that Modula Corp puts out. I know, it's not HIS fault - but I wonder how many more victims that reference is going to produce... -- a frustrated and generally bummed-out Jerry Callen -------
info-mac@uw-beaver (12/10/84)
From: ihnp4!politik!paul@uw-beaver.arpa (Paul Vixie)
I ordered MacModula from Modula Corp in September; about mid-October I finally
got a bit worried and called them. They said "the software guys found some
bugs in the thing and decided to fix them before shipping. Do you want the
current version as a beta-test?" I said "Yes," of course, and a few DAYS
later the thing arrived in the mail.
It has a non-disclosure agreement ("I promise to report bugs and stuff only
to Modula Corp, so help me Wirth"); this seems odd but I will comply anyway--
Modula-2 is a neat language and these folks are doing nice (read: $90) things
with it. I'm willing to help out. It can't hurt to mention, though, that
this compiler was the thing that finally pushed me into an external floppy
drive.
They mention in the beta documentation that "when the real release happens
(which we hope will be before the end of the year), you will get a copy of
the binary and the documentation."
Paul Vixie
UUCP: ..ucbvax!mtxinu!politik!paul
ARPA: a fond wish