#Lattice Flame
10 messages in this thread
Thumbs down to Lattice! What was once the largest producer of
compilers for the Amigados environment has begun to go rotten. Their
latest versions of the Lattice C compiler produces buggy code that often
doesn't work, forcing you to tweak your code to fit tyhe compiler rather
than the application. Along with this problem comes their problems with
the products that come with the compiler. For instance, the CodeProbe
source-level debugger, which, according to Lattice "…creates a powerful
and easy-to-use debugging environment.", and is "an exceptionally useful
debugger" immediately becomes locked up when redirection through a console
window is performed, and so is often badly suited for serious debugging
purposes. Just as bad is their product updates that don't work because
their installation batch files look for files that heve never existed. And
to top it all off, Lattice has discontinued customer support for the
Amigados C compiler through their free BBS and will now provide on-line
customer support through BIX only. When I bought the Lattice C development
system, I bought it knowing that use of the Lattice BBS for customer
support was part of the price I payed for the compiler. I have no
intention of now paying for what I already payed for by paying subscription
fees to BIX. I already payed $200 for the Lattice compiler and really
don't want to shell out another $200 for the Aztec compiler but with
service like this I think I'll have to. So let's give Lattice a big
boo-hiss for their poor quality of product and service.
Scott Litvinoff
Forest Hills, NY
d
Scott,
SAS, which has owned Lattice for several years, has taken over
direct control of the AmigaDOS compiler including customer support. They
are in a transition period right now, but reportedly are going to open up
their own BBS for support in the near future. BIX is supposedly a
temporary arrangement.
Time will tell if the above comes true, but for the time being, I'm
willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Don
"support thru BIX"… are these guys getting payoffs, or what?? BIX STINKS.
–Eet–
Director of Mayhem
Extra Terrestrial Imports, Ltd.
Eet –
Can't you get anything right?! BIX doesn't stink, it SUCKS!
– Nelson … 😉
Jim,
I didn't say the idea was good…only that it is supposedly
temporary.
Don
Um, Bix has one very major advantage over CI$ support at least….messages
don't scroll off, which is very valuable from a tech-support stand point.
-Mike
Bix's software stinks until you get used to it, but they've got an amazing
base of very technically knowledgable users.
An Commodore's presence there helps.
…Steve
Scott,
I do believe you must have been quite angry when you wrote that message –
and I don't think it is quite fair to Lattice. If it were really that bad,
we would not have so many Amiga programmers – professional programmers –
switching to it, or using it for their programs. Lattice has given
excellent support for their compilers; small bug fix updates have been free
and prompt; large updates have been reasonably priced. Of course it is not
perfect – nothing is! But it is a sound compiler, has been used for a
large portion of the commercial Amiga products that are available, and is
widely respected.
I can understand your problems with the closing of their BBS. Quite a few
people are upset about that. Perhaps SAS will reconsider, once they have
time to work out all the problems connected with moving the Lattice work to
the SAS facility. Give them a bit of time, Scott. We don't know yet HOW
things will go, but we should give them a chance.
……Betty
Yes, Lattice certainly doesn't have anything to be ashamed of with their
support policies. However, Lattice is no longer calling the shots, and
lots of people are rather angry at SAS for their handling of things. I'm
obviously biased, but quite frankly the SAS people should've been doing the
transition long before they wrested control of everything from Lattice.
They could've easily set up a BBS while the old Lattice BBS was still
running and hired support people to come up to speed on the product while
Lattice people were still able to handle it. As it is now, they have no
BBS, their Bix support is only through the developers (i.e., no dedicated
support personnell but just programmers doing it in their spare time), and
their other support services are in flux. I'm not saying that people
should abandon Lattice C and run to Manx because of this, but people have a
right to be angered about the abysmal support that SAS has shown so far.
-Mike
How long has this been the case? A couple of weeks?
Yeah, the programmers have been doing support on Bix, but I'd rather be
talking to a programmer than a marketroid when the compiler is doing funny
things to me.
…Steve