🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Oct2.090607.334@titan.inmos.co.uk> 
steved@lion.inmos.co.uk (Stephen Doyle) writes:
[lots of good comments deleted]

   > but we'd still like to get/buy a version of isim running on a
   > DECstation. Is such a thing available ...

   NO

Pray, why not? (see below)

   > As an aside, it would be VERY NICE of Inmos if the source for isim were
   > made publicly available, same as they did with their servers and other
   > stuff (e.g. the 'check' program). I don't think this would stop people
   > from buying Transputers!

   If anyone wants to develop a public domain transputer simulator they are 
   quite at liberty to do so. INMOS do not have a policy of giving away 
   valuable intellectual property (especially that containing proprietary 
   information). You have already demonstrated that the availability of isim 
   has had some effect in stopping people from buying transputers.

__FLAME ON__

It is this stupid attitude that over the years has COST Inmos a lot
of sales. Why do you think other manufacturers/OEMS "give away valuable
intellectual property"? Because they know that they have a lot of
potential customers that just don't have the money to buy a sample
of everything just to evaluate a product. Because they know that
just these cashstrapped customers (university departments etc) will act as
multipliers once they get to places where money IS available. Do you
think somebody who probably has the virtual memory on a <insert
favourite workstation> is going to buy 26 transputers with 104MB
just for a test? Sheesh, get real! Are you telling me you can't easily
strip any proprietary information from isim (most of which is probably
widely known anyway, as the PD disassembler from Inmos contains a lot
of undocumented instructions...)?

The same arguments, of course, go for the occam compiler. Thankfully,
things seem to be getting better in recent times, but I just had the
feeling of being back in the dark middle ages!

__FLAME OFF__

Have a nice weekend, guys 'n girls, I'm feeling much better now.