info-mac@uw-beaver (09/12/85)
From: Mark Lentczner <mark%apple.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa>
[]
There has been so many requests for my info file on Smalltalk that I think it
warrents being posted to info-mac, so here it is... Please don't send me any
more requests for this file, and do send your address physically, not
electronically to the address below for an order form. I will still gladly
answer specific questions regarding Smalltalk on the Mac.
--Mark Lentczner
Smalltalk Group
Apple Computer, Inc.
20525 Marianni Avenue, MS:22Y
Cupertino, CA 95014
UUCP: {nsc, dual, voder, ios}!apple!mark
CSNET: mark@Apple.CSNET
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Yes, It is true, we have released the pre-product release 0.2 of Smalltalk for
the Macintosh and Macintosh-XL systems. It comes with two images: level 0 and
level 1. Being a pre-product version and because of the low price ($50,
institution licence is $150 more, or $50 for educational institutions) we do
not offer any support, you're on your own (but then again, haven't Smalltalkers
allways been...)
MEMORY
Both images expand to use as available memory upto 2Meg (should
work upto 4Meg, but we're not really sure about that...) Level 0
needs at least 512k and level 1 needs at least 1Meg. The number of
objects is limited: level 0 at 14k objects, level 1 at 32k objects.
We have tested Smalltalk with some third party 1Meg upgrades to the
Macintosh as well as the 2Meg upgrade to the Macintosh-XL from AST and
it works. The major factor for a Mac. 1Meg upgrade is if the 1Meg is
continous and seen by the ROMs that way. The amount of free space in
level 0 is 3k objects and 24k words (on a 512 Mac), and in level 1 is
16k objects and 104k words (on a 1Meg Mac-XL).
FILES
The level 0 image file will fit on one 400k floppy! On the other hand,
some other files are a lot bigger. Level 1 is 600k so you will need
a hard disk to run it. The sources file (on-line sources to
all the code in the system) is 1.3Meg, hence you need a hard disk if
you want that too, however the system will still keep all the source
code you write in the changes file and will decompile all the
system sources it can't find. Good news is that we don't do anything
really weird with the files so that almost any hard disk that works
with existing Mac applications should work with Smalltalk. Even better
is that any disk server that appears as volume in the Finder will also
be found and used by Smalltalk (several people sharing the sources over
Apple talk from one disk server has been proven to work!) Finally, we
the system comes with a file in that makes lets you issue a command from
the browser that will read the sources off the distribution disks if you
really need the source code and can't have the sources on line (that means
that sources are still available even on diskette systems!!!)
VERSIONS
Our images are built out of Xerox version 1. (Sorry about there being
release numbers, level numbers, and version numbers...) Version 2 is
what is described in the books from Addison/Wesley. The differences are
not major and we have added equivelent things in many cases (spelling
correction for instance). At this time there are no plans for us to
do a version 2 port. (If version 2 is important to you, and you have
the resources to do a port of the image, please contact us further...)
Level 0 is actually a pared down version of level 1 which is missing
many of the 'extras' that are in the system (Spline curves for example).
The whole programming enviornment is there except for projects.
CONFIGURATION, SPEED, TOOLBOX, & MISC.
Just to pull together some of the above info: Yes, it is possible to run
Smalltalk on a 512k Mac with one (or two) floppy disk drives and have
enough space to do 'student' type projects (1 or 2 weeks). On the other
hand, level 1 with 1Meg and a harddisk makes quite a useful system that
can support a great deal of work. The speed of our system has been
clocked at 13% Dorado, or just slightly faster than the Berkley BS2
implementation on SUNs. The images do provide access to the Mac toolbox,
although they do not make use of it themselves. As can been seen from
some of the examples in the image, one could speed up the Smalltalk
interface substantially by making use of the toolbox (which is one
of the projects we are doing here).
NEWS LETTER
At this time we are not 100% certian what to do about a Macintosh Smalltalk
newletter. For the time being, if you happen to have anything that you'd
like to be in such a newsletter (goodies, work-arounds, fixes, applications,
lab reports, novel uses, etc.) you can mail them to us and we will do
somthing useful with them. If you are seriously interested in coordinating
such a newsletter, please let us know.
Well, there's more info than you probably bargained for, hope you enjoyed
it. Ordering info: if you already sent me your address, then the order form
is on the way. Otherwise, if you send a letter to:
Smalltalk Request
c/o Eileen Crombie
Apple Computer, Inc.
20525 Mariani Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014
She'll send you some more info and an order form.
-- Mark Lentczner
DoIt:
Rectangle allInstancesDo: [:r | Display reverse: r]
(p.s., if you get this twice, please mail me so that I may fix my addresses)
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[SUMEX]<INFO-MAC>SMALLTALK.TXT, as a public service. --RMA]