🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <460c4f58.14a1f@force.UUCP> covertr@force.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) writes:

> Well, my feeling is that Atari has really dropped the ball on the release of
> TOS 1.4!!

Lots of feeling, no understanding. I tried to send this email, but
uunet doesn't know where "force.UUCP" is.

You suggest that Atari go ahead and produce updated TOS 1.4 ROMS. This is
probably a bad idea. Can't you just see customer service: "I have this
problem", "What version of TOS are you running?", "TOS 1.4, I just bought
it from my dealer", "Which one, new TOS 1.4 or old TOS 1.4???"

Or, a user sees TOS14PATCH.ARC on his BBS, and wonders if he's
supposed to run it or not. It's vastly easier to have all TOS ROMS
distributed for a long time be the same, and for all users to need the
same patch program. This is the only philosophy that makes sense for a
home machine. Atari isn't Sun.

On another topic, Richard flamed Atari for not providing more software
support to people trying to get the SLM804 working with Mac software.
Atari provides sufficient support that if you can make a bitmap, you
can output it to the printer. This is how the DVI program for the
SLM804 works. The problem is generating the bitmap on the Mac. You can
either generate it using Postscript (which could be licensed from
several sources), or implement Quickdraw for an arbitrary bitmap.
General Computer sells Mac laser printers that work this way.

In either case, this isn't an Atari-only problem -- it's the same
problem you'd get hooking up ANY "dumb" laser printer to a real Mac.
It's a bit silly to expect Atari to pay several programmers a bunch of
money to implement such a critter when it won't sell many STs. And
it's silly to expect David Small to do it if it would take so much
time it wouldn't be cost-effective.

Many "technical" decisions are really marketing decisions. If we want
to get Atari to do something, let's ask for something useful, not
something stupid.

Can I get down off my soapbox yet? ;-)


------
Greg Lindahl
gl8f@virginia.edu                                             I'm not the NRA.