CompuServe Thread

#No RUN

11 messages in this thread
#133758From: Black Belt SystemsJul 8, 1988 9:42 PM
There are those of us who don't have and don't want it either… gotta look at all the viewpoints…. –Ben–
#133795From: John DraperJul 9, 1988 12:30 AM
Ben, An author who writes something that requires arp.library is making a concious decision based upon how she views the alternatives. You job is then to make a concious decision to either use or not use that program. To base that particular decision on how you perceive the whole ARP package is to limit your options arbitrarily. -larry
#133799From: Black Belt SystemsJul 9, 1988 12:40 AM
My concious decision is that I don't (at this time) want ARP in my machine. Having ARP in a program guarentees that a will not be able to run it, since arp will NOT be in my machine is the forseeable future. It limits my options just like not running an IBM pc limits my options. There are good things I could get if I were to relent and let ARP in the door. There are other good things I get by keeping it outside. Peace of mind, among others. I prefer the second choice, and franly, so far, I've seen nothing that would _force_ me into using arp. It would have to be something like a real animation program, real AI, something along that line. Or….. CBM could decide to support it and it would be in my machine instantly. Till then, no thanks. –Ben–
#133801From: John DraperJul 9, 1988 12:47 AM
Ben, What about other programs you are running in your machine that use a 'foreign' library… like… oh… perhaps some word processor… it must be VERY good, and never crash your machine, or you wouldn't have 'lt it in the door'. Right? Ben? 🙂 -larry
#133803From: Black Belt SystemsJul 9, 1988 12:56 AM
Funny you should mention WP <grin> I no longer have it in-system, as PCLOplus manual is DONE! libraries are out, et bloody cetera. I'm now plying with excellence – which, strangely enough, is excellent. Makes WP look like crud. Well, actully, WP makes WP look like crud. Excellence just provides the contrast you need to SEE it. <grin> –Ben–
#133804From: John DraperJul 9, 1988 1:00 AM
Ben, That's all fine, but here was a product that by your own admission, crashed your system, trashed your HD, and in general made your disposition look about the same as a rabid wolverine's, and yet you say a program would have to be VERY good in order for you to allow one part of that program to inhabit your machine _for the duration of the run of the program_? Hmmm. -larry
#133805From: Black Belt SystemsJul 9, 1988 1:12 AM
Well, the problem with WP was this entire flipping forum was saying "the bugs are out" "it's great software" "gotta have it if you're serious" "Finally, a _serious_ word processor for the Amiga" "Business will recognize us NOW…" Plus, it has LOTs of features, and I thought that I was using it wrong, and making those problems. Turns out I wasn't – but by the time I had that fiugured out, I had one manual written, and 150 pages of another done. Unfortunatly, they were the EASY 150 pages…. they had been already written in another form, for the PCLO manual. So, in a sense, they already were thought out, tho they certainly got edited as they went in. Now, came the NEXT 180 pages that was to complete the PCLOplus manual…. I couln't change to another WP until I was done, and THAT was a while in coming. However, I'm happy to report that the WP master disks hold interceptor, Photon Paint, and two PD disks quite well. I had a cola and formatted em before I even copied the new data on em. Was a joy to do, it was. Now they're free of me, and I of them. –Ben–
#133811From: John DraperJul 9, 1988 3:34 AM
Hmmm… we seem to be pulling toward two different conversations… you are talking about WP, and I am talking about arp.library. Running a program with a 'non-CBM-supported' library is no different whether it's WP's or ARP's, and since _most_ of ARP seems to be problem free, it makes me wonder about the difference as you see it. -larry
#133837From: Don Curtis/SYSOPJul 9, 1988 12:33 PM
Larry, I think Ben's point, and it's my reasoning also, is that since ARP isn't the standard command set that comes with the Amiga…then there is no absolute guarantee that if a product that Ben makes runs under ARP that it will also run under CBM's standard command set. Or vice-versa. If I test a product under the standard CBM supplied command set and it works…then I've done my job as far as making sure the program is compatible with the Amiga environment. If I test it under ARP and it works, then all I can say is that I've tested it and it works properly only if you have the ARP command set installed on your machine. Sure, I can test it under both environments and then say it works in either place…but then what have I gained? 35K on a disk, faster executing code on programs that only take a second or so to run anyway? I can't say I've got more flexibility since I have to also be compatible with the CBM command set. None of this is to say that ARP is bad…it isn't. In fact, I think Charlie and the others did a bang up job with it. That's not the point, what the point I'm trying to make (and I think Ben is also) is that it's not universal. I believe that's why Ben says that IF CBM adopted it, he would install it in a heartbeat…because it then would be the standard. Don
#133865From: Black Belt SystemsJul 9, 1988 6:18 PM
Well, actually – I didn't say _anything_ about a "non-supported library". I said I didn't want ARP in my system. Some of the reasons are: I don't want to learn new commands… and new BUGS. I don't want to gove up space to ARP library – want my cmds completely transient, as much as possible. I need to ensure that the software that my company makes works in the "standard" environment – ARP needs to make sure that it works with our stuff – not the other way around, until and unless CBM supports it. Specific problems here include not having to worry about where a bug is coming from when I find one. I also _personally_ find arp to be a reinvention of the wheel, and I'm not particularly positive about it for that reason. I emphasize that's a personal opinion, and not a proclamation. WP offered me something I couldn't otherwise get (because excellence wasn't out yet) and so got into my system by default. ARP offers me absolutely nothing that I can see except a new learning curve, reduced available memory, an abnormal running environment, and IBM wildcards. No thank you. WP is out of my system now, thanks to Excellence, and I hope to stay with this program. MSS may not be the "hottest" Amiga company around, but at least they know what a proportional gadget is, and someone there must have looked up WYSIWYG _before_ excellence was written. I'm not sure if anyone at WP even knows what the word means. –Ben–
#133884From: Gregory B. TibbsJul 9, 1988 8:09 PM
All of this begs the question: If Arp is a no-no because it is non-standard, then why AREXX? -Greg