🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Jan7.174746.151@umr.edu> mcastle@cs.umr.edu (Michael R Castle) writes:
>In article <1993Jan07.004024.16907@qdeck.com> garyrich@qdeck.com (Gary Rich) writes:
>
>>As of yesterday there is a new (V1.01) of QDPMI.  It is, as before, a full
>>implementation of the 0.9 DPMI spec (we could write a 1.0 DPMI, but no 
>>software supports it).  It is in the process of being spread
>>far and wide.  Anyone that wants a copy in the meanwhile, just send mail to
>>support@qdeck.com or d/l from our bbs or the net.
>
>Well, gee, if this isn't a chicken-or-the-egg problem, I don't know what
>is!!.  No products (and of course the main one I'm thinking about is
>djgpp :-) is going to support DPMI 1.0 until 1.0 servers come out!!!!
>

Well, there you go.  You had to get me started... Nobody can write a 1.0 
DPMI host because it would not "work the way Windows does". <expletives
deleted> Windows in enhanced mode provides 0.9 level DPMI support.  That's
what everyone seems to have written their porgrams expecting. We could
(and certainly will at some point) inplement a 1.0 host.  We'd love to.
Some of the things that are in 1.0 that aren't in 0.9 are things that
Quarterdeck fought long and hard for with the DPMI committee.  Also, 1.0 
_must_ be better since the 1.0 spec is 160 pages and the 0.9 spec is only
97 :^)  But.... if a 1.0 DPMI host will hang your 0.9 programs, do you
still want one yet???  I do, but I probably need therapy even more...

As for DJGPP, it currently uses VCPI.  For now at least I think we're all
better off this way.  There is _nothing_ that DPMI allows you to do that
VCPI can't.  On the other hand DPMI does not allow you to do some things
that you can do via VCPI.  Some folks think that's a superiority of DPMI,
since it protects incompetent programers from themselves.  I am an incompetent
programmer and I still prefer VCPI.  One of the best ways to learn is to
have the system hang when you do something really stupid.  I don't like a
paternalistic environment that won't let me do usefull things because it
fears that I might be a moron and do it wrong and crash ring 0.  I can be
a moron and I have crashed ring 0 more than once.  I did learn from the 
experience though.


-- 
: Gary Rich : garyrich@qdeck.com
	    :: for tech support- support@qdeck.com
:           : for info        - info@qdeck.com
: