schuh@geowhiz.UUCP (David Schuh) (06/17/85)
Hello net.micro.mac:
I have monitored this net for many months watching
for answers to questions I have, alas, I have not seen
those q's go by so I now ask them.
O- On the subject of DA'a
1. Is there a DA facility to do the equivalent
of a disk K)runch (a la ucsd pascal). I
think my disks were are well fragmented by now
which it seems could degrade performance.
2. Having the clock onboard and only being able
to tell time with it is depressing (my digital
watch does that), is there or could there be
an accessory simular to "at" on UNIX. that
would run your chosen application (or sequence
of same) at the chosen time or times. It would also
be usefull to incorporate the next suggested DA.
3. A "source stream" DA, invoke this DA, select
a file and it would source the file into the
standard input. I guess this is really just a batch
facility. (usefull for macterm transfers etc...)
Will the journal accessory (which appears to be
hard to find and not robust) do what I want?
O- On the subject of languages.
1. Deciding which to by is really tough, what is the
relation between cost and quality in the current
C implementations, ie. do I trade in an arm and leg
to get the best implementation. Right now I have a
slim mac with one drive. With my poor
student hourly budget it will take awhile to get
a full system. But, I still want to develop some
things I've been dreaming about for years. This is my plan
unless anyone out there with more experience can
lend some advice.
1. Buy the DeSmet C compiler (even though I have
not heard much more about it than it being very
good for the price). Or should I sped more and
get Megamax, or Consulair, sigh.
Any one have some words on this compiler?
2. Buy Neon at the introductory price. This would
probably round off all the languages I would need.
3. Wait for the rom upgrade (and some money)
4. Get one of the big memory upgrade kits.
5. Has anyone anything to say about Pascal on the
mac. I know about apples macpascal but it is
a bit slow and limited in size. Softech seems
to have two UCSD implementations and a tool box
one system is more expensive than the other.
What is the difference between them. What pascal
should I buy. Would I be better off with Modulla II,
which is probably close enough to pascal for to
use in classes. ARGHHHH this is soooo frustrating
I am finding it just impossible to get good before
purchase knowledge of any of these implementations,
PLEASE HELP!!!
etc.....
I would like to avoid buying an external floppy if
I can because eventually I want a hard disk.
2. I know this seems fragmented but so am I, What I'm
trying to get at here is that on a limited budget and
buying minimum requirements outfitting the mac (or
anything for that matter) is a traumatic experience,
because there seems to be *NO* knowledgable retail
outlets, one computerland in Wausau (Wis.) did
not even know about the new system upgrade. Sigh
How about all of those great Mac hackers out there
giving us neophyte maccers a helping hand in setting
up our dream work station.
Here is my proposal: Send in your current and or
favorite and or dream configuration of the macintosh
(maybe not including the mac office which is not
available to an average budget).
The description should include:
o All hardware and approx retail costs.
o All software that is critical (in your view) to
the completion of your systems task. This might
include how the software helps further the mission,
its approx cost, and whether its any good or
not (just because you need it to do what you want
does not make it a good piece of software).
o The main purpose: Why that configuration,
is it specially suited or general to development,
education, writing etc....
Except in this last category attention should be paid
to the fact that not all of us have infinite budgets
and cannot buy something to see if it does what we need.
So try to keep costs down.
o Vaporware: THis might be the most fun, anything
want for the mac that does not yet exist.
o Any other categories you might find interesting.
If you wish to mail to me , I would be glad to compile
such a listing and post to the net any results. I also
think it would be a great boon to blossoming maccers.
Thanks in Advance
David Schuh
uwvax!geowhiz!schuh
- DONT PANIC!! -
The Hitchers Guide to to Galaxy.
- Ok you can panic now! -