🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <17480@rpp386.cactus.org> woody@rpp386.cactus.org (Woodrow Baker) writes:
>
>Dick Dunn writes rather facinating articles.  However, he is quite wrong
>in some assumptions.  First, PS is a GENERAL PURPOSE programming language
>with an imaging model as it's base.  

PostScript is a device-independent page description language.  Or at
least that's what the back of my Blue Books says.  I don't think Adobe
ever envisioned the printer to be used as general purpose computer.  I
just can't see Warnock saying to Gesche, "Hey Chuck, let's build a
general purpose computer with a built-in Cannon print engine."


>It is everybit as potent and powerful
>as anything you can stack it up against, APL might be more compact, and better
>at marices, but PS can handle most of that as well.  Because of that, it
>is useful for lots more than printing.  I have a ps printer setting on
>my desk at home.  90% of the time it is NOT doing printing.  It is just
>sitting there.  Why not offload some computing work on it.  It is, afterall
>a 68000 with full floating point math, and a file system.  There is no reason
>not to use it.

Agree, so let it sit there an do an LU decomposition of a zillion by
zillion matrix.  It can blast the results of the serial line using
7-bit data.  Or you could do something really bizarre like PRINT OUT
the results.

> Yes it is a "hackers" dream.  Not by the current definition
>of "hacker", but by the classic definition "one who knows more about a machine
>because he takes the time to explore it more throughly that 99% of the people
>out there".  The guru type hackers.  I am NOT an amature "hacker".  I am a
>classic "hacker".  

Ooh boy, hacker discussions.  I have no doubt that you are NOT an
amature hacker.

I look for as much power out of a machine (it costs > $5000)
> remember.  The decision to cripple the printer by going to 7 bit ascii
>(who uses that?  That disappeared with OCTAL for crying outloud!) is a rather
>serious mistake, because it severly limits what you can do with the machine.

Be serious.  It only limits what YOU can do with the machine.  Our P&G
department which bangs off thousands of pages a month doesn't seem to be
limited.

>more odious, however is the inability to create a truely TRANSPARENT channel
>where control D', C's, T's etc can get through.  That is teh real problem.

Yeah, an 8 bit data path would reduce image xfer by 50%.  That's the
only benfit that I see.

[part about inability to print business cards at a flea market deleted]

>All that interpreting is slow, even with a 18mhz 68000.  

Well, do something useful.  Write a compiler/assembler for PostScript
to 68000.  I realize it's a very difficult problem, but a "classic
hacker" should be able to handle it.

>Drawing the boarders
>for 33 labels, then going back and filling them in takes time.  Bit
>blitting would help tremendously.  I don't use my printer for "type setting
>" that much, but rather as a general purpose printer, and graphics
>printer.  I also use it as a tool for general programming.

Bit blitting isn't posible on every platform that support PostScript.

>It apparent that Dick never had an ounce of curiosity, nor grew up during
>the early 70's with microcomputers.  

Your assumption.  Just because Dick doesn't invest his efforts on
oddballs efforts of marginal usefulness it doesn't mean he's not
curios. 

>I started programming micros back
>in 76, when a 256 BYTE machine was normal, and no one knew what to  curiosity
>bumps.  We dug through code to see how it was written, what it did, and
>how to wring the most possible out of both it and the machine.  That kind
>of poking and prying is still valuable.  

So post it to alt.computer.folklore.

>Perhaps I am a bit of a hacker,
>if some one tells me something is "off limits" etc, I'm going to find out
>why.

I assume it's the obligation of every PostScript programmer to do so?

>This discussion group is not a place for flames, or diatriabes or even 
>personal attacks.  So right now, I will say, that I have just violated that
>with the above paragraph, and I applogize for that. 

Get a real life.  Flame then apologize.  Be serious.  You have an
editor, use it.

>The Rom monitor was installed for testing, and debugging.  It is still 
>useful for that.  Wouldn't you love to be able to retrieve the bitmap?

Not really.

>amoung other things?  The only way apparently to find out how to do that,
>is either to pay Adobe a chunck, or go get it your self.  Dick, If you want
>to pay for the information for my, if you can get Adobe to turn lose of it
>I'll shut up and crawl back in my hole, but until that time, I am going
>to keep digging.  The only way up, is down.

Keep digging Woody.  We'll be printing with our printers.  

Now for a final exercise, print out ten pages of:

"The LaserWriter is a PRINTER"

Feel free to experiment with various typefaces, point sizes and
leading.  Who knows, you may learn something about typography.


Cheers,
Teddy

|Ted Ede -- ted@mbunix.mitre.org -- The MITRE Corporation -- Burlington Road|
| linus!mbunix!ted -- Bedford MA, 01730 -- Mail Stop B090 -- (617) 271-7465 |
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