sqrkl@csvax.liv.ac.uk (03/07/88)
> I didn't ask for it. You are certainly entitled to your > opinions, but WHY would you post this to comp.sys.atari.st? > Are you trying to stir up some excitement, or what? > If you guys want to rant and rave about stupid things like this, > why not keep it to yourself? Mail is good for that, you know. Normally, I would have kept it to myself (and MAILed directly to the person involved), but I was angry with the person who'd "flamed" me just because I put a personal opinion at the end of one of my postings. I don't like being accused of posting "childish bulls**t" and being told to take a course in logic (???), so I thought other people should see some extracts from his MAIL to me, along with some 'arguments' he requested I supply... Anyway, if you want to see a GOOD machine, forget the Amiga, Macintosh and Atari ST - buy an Acorn Archimedes...I've been programming in ARM (RISC) code for a couple of months now and it is BEAUTIFUL (so's the Archimedes - puts all other machines below a MicroVAX 3500 to shame). Richard K. Lloyd, *************************************************** Computer Science Dept., * JANET : SQRKL@UK.AC.LIV.CSVAX * Liverpool University, * UUCP : {backbone}!mcvax!ukc!mupsy!liv-cs!SQRKL * Merseyside, England, * ARPA : SQRKL%csvax.liv.ac.uk@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk * Great (?) Britain. *************************************************** "I have VERY strong opinions which are nothing whatsoever to do with the University of Liverpool, so blame ME if I bitch about useless IBM PC clones, even more redundant IBM mainframes and the terrible Atari ST..."
exodus@uop.edu (G.Onufer) (03/10/88)
In article <478@csvax.liv.ac.uk>, sqrkl@csvax.liv.ac.uk writes: > > I didn't ask for it. You are certainly entitled to your > > opinions, but WHY would you post this to comp.sys.atari.st? > Anyway, if you want to see a GOOD machine, forget the Amiga, Macintosh and > Atari ST - buy an Acorn Archimedes...I've been programming in ARM (RISC) code > for a couple of months now and it is BEAUTIFUL (so's the Archimedes - puts > all other machines below a MicroVAX 3500 to shame). I wouldn't worry too much about this guy. He mailed me after I flamed him... in fact, he is still mailing me. His opions are semi-unusual: -Anything that resembles a C-Shell is terrible -If it isn't VMS DCL, it isn't usable -VMS is the most user-friendly system available (or close to it) -GnuEmacs isn't a decent editor -The Acorn is the world's best computer-- [ME: Where is it?] -Unix commands are too cryptic to be usable -BASIC (albeit a modern semi-structured BASIC) is the programming language of choice [ME: Why not use PASCAL?] -C is a terrible language, see above -There are no decent compilers for the ST [Ever see MWC 2.0 or above?] -Only his opinions mean anything See? No problems here. Obviously not a hacker. [These opions have been re-worded but contain the same thoughts he expressed to me. My comments are in brackets containing the word "ME"] He does claim an Archimedes obtains 4 MIPS for somewhere around 800 pounds sterling... is that around 1600 dollars? I forgot the exchange rate!! G.Onufer
ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab) (03/11/88)
In article <1244@uop.edu> exodus@uop.edu (G.Onufer) writes: >In article <478@csvax.liv.ac.uk>, sqrkl@csvax.liv.ac.uk writes: >> > I didn't ask for it. You are certainly entitled to your >> > opinions, but WHY would you post this to comp.sys.atari.st? >> Anyway, if you want to see a GOOD machine, forget the Amiga, Macintosh and >> Atari ST - buy an Acorn Archimedes...I've been programming in ARM (RISC) code >> for a couple of months now and it is BEAUTIFUL (so's the Archimedes - puts >> all other machines below a MicroVAX 3500 to shame). > >I wouldn't worry too much about this guy. He mailed me after I flamed him... >in fact, he is still mailing me. His opions are semi-unusual: > >[ Handwave, Handwave... ] >-The Acorn is the world's best computer-- [ME: Where is it?] > >He does claim an Archimedes obtains 4 MIPS for somewhere around 800 pounds >sterling... is that around 1600 dollars? I forgot the exchange rate!! > He is right about the Acorn system; the ARM chip kicks major a**. Don't believe it? Dave Needle (ex C-A hardware tech, and a damn good one, too) created an Acorn RISC-based prototype system while he worked for another well-known company after he left C-A. It was an 8MHz system, and had it emulating their low-end system's software, and running their graphics kernel flawlessly. The ARM system he designed outperformed every system this company made, including the MAC-II. It was also cheap (according to Dave, you can get the ARM chip for $10, quantity one). Said company refused to manufacture it, claiming that it would never work. Never mind that Dave and others in his crew had a fully functional prototype, running all the software that the software division said would never work. Dave got fed up because of this, and now works for Epyx, designing who-knows-what. If the Archimedes ever makes it to the States, I'm gonna take a good look at it. If Dave's any expert (and he is), it should be one very impressive system. DISCLAIMER: Stories relating to this mythical vaporsystem were related to me by Dave Needle. I make no claims as to their accuracy. He may have been making it all up (not unlikely; he claims to be from Jupiter, and does so with a straight face). _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ Leo L. Schwab -- The Guy in The Cape ihnp4!ptsfa -\ \_ -_ Recumbent Bikes: dual ---> !{well,unicom}!ewhac O----^o The Only Way To Fly. hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack") "Work FOR? I don't work FOR anybody! I'm just having fun." -- The Doctor
csan@its63b.ed.ac.uk (A Ness) (03/15/88)
> > If the Archimedes ever makes it to the States, I'm gonna take a good >look at it. If Dave's any expert (and he is), it should be one very >impressive system. > The Acorn Archimedes is well worth a look at. It is said to be the fastest micro ever produced and having seen it, I am inclined to agree. As a demonstration, Acorn include a GEM-like desktop which runs faster than GEM on the Atari and best of all, include the source because it was written in BASIC (yuk). Its a fantastic machine. By the way, I still love my Atari! --Andie. Andie Ness . Department of Computer Science ,Edinburgh University. ARPA: csan%ed.itspna@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk UUCP: ...!uunet!mcvax!ukc!itspna!csan an%ed.lfcs@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk JANET: csan@uk.ac.ed.itspna an@uk.ac.ed.lfcs % These are my own views and any resemblance to any coherent reasoning is % probably a typo.
pes@ux63.bath.ac.uk (Smee) (03/16/88)
Our experience (University of Bristol, but this is **NOT** an official University statement) is that the Archie indeed runs like a bat out of hell if you program it in BBC (interpreted) BASIC, or of course in assembler; but that it slows right down (painfully) if you try any other (of the very few available) high-level languages. Given that it is said to be specifically designed and tuned for Beeb BASIC, that seems reasonable. And (personal opinion here) like all recent Acorn products, it is desperately overpriced. It's not at all clear which niche of the market they think they are going for. I have a feeling they may fall into a crack.