page@ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu (Bob Page) (10/29/87)
OK, Here's the FULL story on pricing from Manx. I am NOT affiliated
with Manx, I just called them and grilled them for a long time. I
told them I was going to POST this information, they said it was OK.
There are currently* three packages:
Professional compiler & assembler, include files
Developer Professional + utilities
Commercial Developer + library source + 1 yr updates
*The Commercial package is going away; details in a minute.
The whole thing is a little complicated, so bear with me.
SDB + the 3.6 compiler will ship in late November.
If you buy SDB, the source level debugger, you will automatically get
3.6 of the compiler package, since you MUST have it to produce the
information for sdb.
SCENARIO #1: Existing owners, not on update service:
The cost *today* is $75 for sdb + compiler update if you are an
existing owner of Manx C. The price is going UP to $125 on either
December 1 or January 1, depending on which issue of AmigaWorld
announces the new pricing. So, if the ad appears in the December
issue, then the price goes up on Dec 1. If the ad appears first in
the January issue, the price goes up Jan 1.
Manx is taking orders for the package now, at $75.
If you have the Professional or Developer package, or have had the
Commercial package for more than a year -- and haven't purchased
another year of updates, AND you call before the price increase, it
will cost you $75. If you wait until after the AmigaWorld ad hits, it
will cost you $125.
SCENARIO #2: Existing owners, on update service:
If you have are still on update service (purchased it or got the
Commercial package less than a year ago), you will automatically get
version 3.6 of the compiler free, but NOT sdb. However, Manx will
offer you a "deep discount" on sdb (they still don't know what the
price will be).
SCENARIO #3: People who don't own Aztec C:
You can get one of the above packages. If you get the Professional or
Developer package, see #1. If you get the Commercial package, see #2.
IMPORTANT note for people who don't own Manx C. When the Amiga World
ad hits (see #1), there will not be a mention of the Commercial
package - that's because they will no longer offer it. They will
continue to offer the package until the ad hits, however.
Manx has decided to unbundle the library sources and year of updates,
and make them separate products. Library source will cost $300, and a
year of updates will cost about $125 (price not yet fixed).
People who have the commercial package now will not get the new
library sources with version 3.6 of the compiler, regardless of when
you got it.
I hope that answers all the questions. Again, I don't have anything
to do with Manx, just wanted to clear up the confusion.
..Bob
--
Bob Page, U of Lowell CS Dept. page@ulowell.{uucp,edu,csnet} rokicki@rocky.STANFORD.EDU (Tomas Rokicki) (10/30/87)
> Manx has decided to unbundle the library sources and year of updates, > and make them separate products. Library source will cost $300, and a > year of updates will cost about $125 (price not yet fixed). > > People who have the commercial package now will not get the new > library sources with version 3.6 of the compiler, regardless of when > you got it. This is terrible! I cannot develop without the library sources! I got the commercial version as much for the library source as anything else. There are *bugs* in them there libraries; with source, I can find and fix them. Without, I have to figure it out by disassembly. Forget it! And there are *still* bugs in the 3.40b libraries. I don't mind paying $75 for the new upgrade, at least not that much, but $300 for the library sources makes me want to get the new Lattice compiler. Damn, I just checked, the library sources don't come with Lattice 4.0 either. So now what? I guess I just have to pray that they don't change the libraries too much . . . -tom
mwm@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Mike (My watch has windows) Meyer) (10/30/87)
In article <710@rocky.STANFORD.EDU> rokicki@rocky.UUCP (Tomas Rokicki) writes:
<This is terrible! I cannot develop without the library sources!
I know the feeling. Wanna try GCC out? :-) That way, you can fix the
bugs in the compiler, as well.
<Damn, I just checked, the library sources don't come with Lattice 4.0
Ah, but Lattice is *good* about fixing things. For instance, I called
their BBS and complained "What's this with fork* setting the stack to
4K by default!? I set my stack to whatever size it is on purpose. It
should copy that." Call back next week, and they've said "Yeah, you're
right" and there's a patch file to fix the library.
I've never found a bug that affacted the generated code that wasn't
fixed within a week. Those that don't affect code (bogus error
messages about promoting char's to int's; etc.), on the other hand
they tend to say "yeah, it'll be fixed in the next version."
The BBS may be dull, but that's not its point in life. It's there so
customers can get patches, help with the compiler (they told me how to
turn off the blasted copyright notices from the compiler!), and
information on products. It does that, and does it well.
While I'm here, I might point out that Lattice appears to have a
better upgrade policy that Manx. No "yearly fee option", but what I've
spent on upgrades over the last two years (I started with 3.03, and
order the upgrades ASAP) is less than that yearly fee is going to be
($120 vs $125). Then again, they appear to have upgrades about half as
often (yearly).
Tom, I think Lattice 4.0 is probably well worth a look. Interested in
recompilng TeX under it after I get a copy?
<mike
--
[Our regularly scheduled .signature preempted.] Mike Meyer
The Amiga 1000: Let's build _the_ hackers machine. mwm@berkeley.edu
The Amiga 500: Let's build one as cheaply as possible! ucbvax!mwm
The Amiga 2000: Let's build one inside an IBM PC! mwm@ucbjade.BITNETng@pur-phy (Nicholas J. Giordano) (11/02/87)
In article <1909@ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu> page@swan.ulowell.edu (Bob Page) writes: >OK, Here's the FULL story on pricing from Manx. I am NOT affiliated lines deleted >SDB + the 3.6 compiler will ship in late November. lines deleted >If you buy SDB, the source level debugger, you will automatically get >3.6 of the compiler package, since you MUST have it to produce the >information for sdb. Aside from needing 3.6 to utilize the SDB debugger, in what ways will Manx 3.6 be different from 3.4a? Thanks.
page@ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu (Bob Page) (11/04/87)
ng@newton.physics.purdue.edu.UUCP (Nicholas J. Giordano) wrote:
>in what ways will Manx 3.6 be different from 3.4a?
I don't know -all- the differences, but the big three are:
- 68020 code generation
- information for SDB
- bug fixes
..Bob
--
Bob Page, U of Lowell CS Dept. page@ulowell.{uucp,edu,csnet} grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) (11/15/87)
In article <5706@jade.BERKELEY.EDU> mwm@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Mike (My watch has windows) Meyer) writes: > In article <710@rocky.STANFORD.EDU> rokicki@rocky.UUCP (Tomas Rokicki) writes: > <This is terrible! I cannot develop without the library sources! > > I know the feeling. Wanna try GCC out? :-) That way, you can fix the > bugs in the compiler, as well. But GCC (Gnu C Compiler) doesn't come with any library sources either, but in compensation it does come with compiler sources. Of course, it generates assembly code in Unix format, and the associated Assembler generates code in Berkeley object file format, but these are minor problems 8-( Still if this sort of thing interests you, that is playing with, learning about compilers, then you might want to check it out. Slip over to the comp.emacs group to collect information about The Free Software Foundation and how to get copies of their creations. (Free if you can find someone who can make you a copy, else you pay FSF a not quite so nominal distribution fee...) Lest I forget, it usually comes on 9-track tape, so you'll need a friend with a substantial unix system and a lot of kermit time to get it to your Amiga. For those who have made the connection and have both powerful modems and telephone budgets, it's also avilable via uucp from uunet. -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {ihnp4|rutgers|allegra}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: out to lunch... Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)