🚀 go-pugleaf

On 7 Mar 90 15:57:58 GMT, dlj@hpfcso.HP.COM (Dave Jobusch) said:

Dave> Deven has an interesting way with constructive criticism...

Much as you have a way with sarcasm.

Dave> Mr. Corzine, please do us a favor and quit whining, and offer
Dave> solutions to the problems you perceive rather than flames.

I can't offer solutions on SKsh specifically, as I don't have the code
available...

Dave> Frankly, I'm getting tired of reading drivel like yours in
Dave> c.s.a. from people who haven't contributed a damn thing to the
Dave> Amiga community, yet feel compelled to flame about all that free
Dave> software you've got from the net.

Ah, you want a "good old boys" network.  How quaint.  If you're not a
lodge member, clearly you couldn't possibly have any idea what you're
talking about.

Dave> And, yes, >I< have software on a couple Fish disks. How about
Dave> you?

Not yet.  Getting software on a Fish disk is hardly a glorious
accomplishment, anyhow.  Makes me feel a little like old Orson Wells
mumbling about no wine before its time.  But I am disinclined to
release poor code.  For example, a few days ago, I wrote a GLP (grungy
little program) to read in a library and split it into object files. 

Specifically, I wanted to break up amiga.lib into its component
modules.  Partly, so I could disassemble the few routines in it.
(such as BeginIO and NewList which I had earlier recreated from the
RKM's...)  More importantly, I wanted to be able to create a smaller
library with the same functionality of amiga.lib, but without the stub
routines, so I wouldn't have to scan the whole thing when the compiler
is using #pragma's to generate calls to ROM routines.

Unfortunately, I can't just use the "stdio" modules from amiga.lib
without the stub routines, because they depend on those stub routines,
as well as certain global variables.  So, I need to rewrite anything I
want.  Fine, so I have a program I wrote to extract object modules
from a library (oml chokes horribly on amiga.lib, you see) and a bunch
of modules, most of which I can't use separately anyhow.  (The _LVO
offsets are in modules I can save and plug in another library, should
I need them.)

But I don't care to release this program as it stands.  It is slow,
uses unbuffered I/O (4 bytes at a time) and not very comprehensive.
It fails on a library generated by oml, since such a library uses a
hunk type which is not documented in the AmigaDOS manual.  (presumably
an indexing hunk...)  It is merely a quick & dirty hack to take a
closer look at amiga.lib and it has served its intended purpose.

Could I get it put on the Fish disks?  Probably.  But I won't do so as
it stands.  *I* don't consider it good enough that I would want to
have it distributed with my name on it.  I could put about 3-5 times
the effort into it than I already have, and create a more professional
program which I would release.  But what I have now is just a hack.
A simple hack, at that.  If you want it, you could surely write it
yourself, right?

Deven> Too bad I haven't had time to write a shell myself.

Dave> I'd like to see it. I'm sure _everyone_ would think it was perfect.

I don't claim that _everyone_ would think it would be perfect.  It is
NOT possible to please EVERYONE.  But if I write a shell and release
it, then it will be _good_, in *my* opinion.  If everyone agrees,
great.  If not, it won't stop me from using it.  Considering what a
following Dillon's csh kludge has, I think I could find a lot of
people who would like the kind of shell I would (and likely will)
write.

Deven> Simple things should be simple and complex things should be possible.
[from my .sig]

Dave> Grrrr.......

You have a problem with that philosophy?

p.s. You say I should do something to enrich the Amiga community or
shut up.  Well, what do people want?

Deven
-- 
Deven T. Corzine        Internet:  deven@rpi.edu, shadow@pawl.rpi.edu
Snail:  2151 12th St. Apt. 4, Troy, NY 12180   Phone:  (518) 274-0327
Bitnet:  deven@rpitsmts, userfxb6@rpitsmts     UUCP:  uunet!rpi!deven
Simple things should be simple and complex things should be possible.