#Great SIG!
4 messages in this thread
Neil, I worked on GEM and have skimmed over the Mac and Amiga manuals now.
Let's say there is a "very rough functional equivalence" amongst them. As you
say, if you use plain vanilla interface techniques you can probably port
reasonably well if you've kept the modularity sane. If you are heavily
exploiting the local environment, well, things get a little shaky. (If you
ever seriously get into organizing detente between the Atari/Amiga/Mac
development worlds, I'd be willing to put in my two cents worth – it's a
worthwhile goal!)
Tim: I'm glad you brought up the notion of 'organizing detente between the
Atari/Amiga/Mac development worlds'. A publisher friend of mine is now
making plans to enter one or several of these fields with a journal
dedicated to programming. I've been lobbying with him for something along
the lines of a 68Tech Journal, covering esoterica relevant to programming
all 3 of these machines (and other 68000-based engines). So far, he's
skeptical of the chances for such an endeavor, feeling that owners of one
machine aren't interested in what goes on in competing worlds. Could I
have some reaction to this? Are joint developers like you and I the only
ones who might show interest in such a project? — Bob Perez
I agree with you and Larry. A generic 68K magazine could be a great success.
It would have columns on all the major models, articles on programming in
general on the 68K, how to do code optimization in a compiler, how to deal with
68000/68010/68020 differences, etc., etc. Definitely a hacker's mag.
MicroSystems, Dr. Dobbs, Micro Coruncopia, and the like have done very well.
(Yes, I know MicroSystems died. First, I think it was still viable but not
quite the moneymaker the last owner thought it would be, and second it was not
moving into the future). PC Tech Journal, Compute!, CLM, many others have
proven that techie magazines are possible and profitable, and the 68K market is
the fastest growing segment of all.
– Bela
Bob, count me in! I would be happy to subscribe and contribute to such a
magazine. ANTIC is doing its best to cover the ST, and there magazines for
Amiga and Mac, but a meeting ground where technical issues can be thrashed out
is needed.
In my dreams, I would like to see a "Windowing Convention", sort of a
latter-day Hackers Conference where the developers of/in each of the current
environments (Mac – GEM/ST – Amiga – even Windows) could get together, bury the
hatchet, and thrash out what good ideas and mistakes are in each of the
environments, and what we have learned over the last two years or so. There
should also be a place for people from the commercial workstation and 3M
efforts.
It's probably pie-in-the-sky to hope for complete agreement on a "Windows
Manifesto", but I think the collective wisdom of those of us who bear battle
wounds could save a lot of pain and frustration to whoever builds the
inevitable Next System…
Ah well, time to Flame Off, and move on. If this mag comes to pass, by sure
to let me know!