aking@J.BBN.COM (Allen King) (05/17/86)
I've been enjoying my 520 now for about two months, spending my time making a Mandelbrot demo to learn GEM and VDI. The demo is flashy in that it gives a full-screen low resolution picture quickly, with the resolution increasing as you watch. I'll post it when its done. After using the developers kit for a while, I've cataloged my impressions in the form of a wish-list of desireable software improvements. If you have found programs with the desired functionality, or if you have found work-arounds to like problems, please share the wealth. Being an engineer, and also an engineer at heart, I usually spend most of my time worying about the parts of the system that don't work. However least one get the wrong impression, most of the ST software I have does work. I recommend ST as a viable entry, and quite an echonomical one at that. Especially when one considers the public domain software to hack with. But now for the wishes: 1. Link68 seems to not know about absolute pathnames. I like to keep directories small, but to get it to work, libraries and applications must be mashed together. Does anybody have any magic (besides moveing default files to RAMDISK) ? 2. If anyone has done a comparison of MAKE's please send your findings out the net. 3. Has anybody integrated mouse pointing into Micro-Emacs? T'would be nice. 4. And Search Rules for the compiler! Do they exist? I hate putting absolute pathnames in my sources, but hate moby folders that take the whole screen even more. 5. If anybody has a Copy.TTP and/or Move.TTP, please post them. Perhaps they exist in some repository which I haven't found. Or I could just write them, but ... 6. It seems that Application Document types are known system-wide, but the application handlers themselves must be in the current folder. Also, I often want one application handler (e.g. micro-emacs) be in effect for multiple document types (e.g. source.c and source.s). 7. Is there an option to save the desktop before an application starts so that exiting the application and returning to the desk wouldn't involve spinning the disk? Perhaps pickey, but it takes a few seconds and happens quite often. Perhaps the Moby RAMDISK is the way out. 8. My friend made me extremely gealous over lunch the other day quoting how his Thinkware C on a MAC+ did a compile-bind-go in 10 seconds. I'm struggeling with a 90 second compile and a 5 minute load using the developers kit. (I guess GEM libraries are big.) I know that both are about 5x faster using RAMDISK, but I need more memory on my 520 to fit everything. 9. My warantee will be up in a month, and I'm going to get the old soldering iron out. Does anybody have any experience with putting in 1M chips? Does the ST's MMU handle them? (it seems to have pins enough, what about refresh? (Neil?)) I believe it would require flying wires on a few address lines, but no piggybacking. The thought of doing compiles and links from a 1.5M RAMDISK really turns me on! 10. I'm looking for a set of graphics primitives that will make porting my pet children's game to other PC's as well as the ST easy. Does GEM foot that bill? How stiff would lisence fees be for customers who didn't already have GEM, given the package wouldn't expose bare GEM functionality to the user. Anybody know of other packages or conventions that work? 11. Boy, would I like to have a copy of Switcher to go quickly between contexts quickly. What I'd really rather have is multiprocess windows like the Sun, but lets be realistic! Two practical questions though: Is it possible to bring up a GEM application on the same desktop as (using MAC terms) the finder? and Does GEM support any sort of multi-tasking? Does any one out there have any hints? "You can tell a craftsman by his tools", and "the men from the boys by the size of their toys".