🚀 go-pugleaf

Wojtek (skulski@fermi.nsrl.rochester.edu) wrote:
> Another problem is with the current level of support. Present System-3 
> situation is a large step back from the V4 situation. Just look at the number
> of V4 ports that do not have their S3 counterpart. This is very disappointing,
> and also somewhat surprising. For a prospective user it is quite frustrating
> to keep waiting forever till you guys somehow regain previous level of 
> commitment. I guess there must be some obstacles on that path which 
> only you know, and it must be left to you to overcome those obstacles
> somehow.

I'm sure we've had this debate before, but I'll take the chance of repeating
what must already have been said. A few years ago, when V4 was on its peak,
a lot of ports were done by a lot of people working at ICS then (that's the
Institute for Computer Systems, usually referred to as "ETH" in Oberon
circles). All these V4 ports are still available and work fine because nobody
ever changed the basic system.

System 3 has been developed by the group of Prof. Gutknecht, which currently
has five members and is a part of ICS. As you probably know, we're all busy
with projects that further extend System 3. Our resources are just too limited
to port System 3 to a lot of platforms and _support_ it there, i.e. keep it up
to date for every release. The only official version in the future will be the
PC native version, probably along with versions for MS Windows and Mac. It
is a matter of time rather than of commitment. Prof. Gutknecht will certainly
approve of other versions but will hardly pay somebody for them, least of all
us guys in his group. We'd have to do the work during evenings and weekends,
like Hannes Marais did for the Windows port.

If you really need a specific port, you'll have to get a source license for S3
(easy), find somebody to do the port (difficult), and to keep the version up to
date (very difficult). Come back when you have done so and we'll be happy
to help you as much as we can.

> Wojtek

This posting is not a flame against you or anybody else. It just describes the
status quo. In fact, I'd be the first to welcome a wider use of S3.

Erich Oswald
Institute for Computer Systems
ETH Zurich, Switzerland
oswald@inf.ethz.ch

Disclaimer: My opinions are my own and may not necessarily represent those
of Prof. Gutknecht, the Institute for Computer Systems, or ETH Zurich.