Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Grumbles about RO3 PRMs
From: jwil1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (TMOTA)
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 00:19:54 GMT
 <18Z8zIj013n@khantazi.welly.gen.nz> <1992Apr8.094928.24324@doc.ic.ac.uk>
Organization: Computer Science Dept. University of Auckland

ijp@doc.ic.ac.uk (Ian Palmer) writes:

>In article <18Z8zIj013n@khantazi.welly.gen.nz> banks_p@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz writes:
>>
>>   Perhaps you might consider that fact that Acorn have yet to release RO3
>>for machines *other* than the A5000.

>So?

>>                                     Do you seriously expect them to release
>>manuals on an OS they are still adjusting and finishing to work on other
>>machines? If you do your dreaming.

>O.K. lets assume a company bring out a package, say a desktop
>publishing package (for sake of argument) and they sell it openly for
>one computer. Someone opens their new package and finds that there are
>no instructions. They write to the company asking for the instructions
>and the company state that they are busilly porting the software for
>other computers, and fixing bugs in the package, and will only release
>the instruction when all that is completed (even though there will be
>absolutly no change to the functionallity of the package). 

I think the point Philip (and myself for that matter) are trying to make
is that RISC OS 3.00 HAS NOT YET BEEN FINISHED
The thing in ROM on A5000's is NOT the official Acorn RISC OS 3.00
Some peoplejust happen to be "lucky" enough to play with a prerelease
version of RO3 for a few months...

If you seriously believe that RO3 as shipped in A5000s is anything other
than a prerelease, then you are a fool.

As a prerelease, many things about it have not been fixed -
for example, Philip cites the fact that interface decisions for hardware
of non-A5000 machines have not (until recently?) been settled
I know for a fact that the RISC OS 3 Icon Border types are not fixed
in any way yet, etc. etc.

If Acorn don't know the final format, they cannot tell you what the format
is.

If Acorn don't finalise the last 5% of the OS before printing the manuals
then the manuals will either be:
  a) WRONG (Guess who would be complaining then, buster)
  b) INCOMPLETE (Guess who would be complaining...)
  c) WRONG.

Acorn would also have to re-print the manuals a couple of weeks/months/years
after that to include the new information. It doesn't make sound
business sense.

I agree Acorn shouldn't have released the thing if it isn't finished,
but I think most people would prefer to have the OS + no instructions for
the new features (no NEW docs) than to have NOTHING.

Remember that you still can get documentation for most of it.
You could also work like I do (I can't afford *ANY* PRM's), and hack and
ask other people (like Acorn) until I find out the answer to my question.

I think you'd find that if you ask a question about RO3 on this group,
there will be at least one person on the net who knows the answer, either
because they have a prerelease manual, because they hacked until they
worked it out, or because they work for Acorn and wrote the thing in the
first place.

I have managed quite happily for 5 years without PRMs, and only a few
phone calls to friends who do have PRMs... they aren't as awe-inspiringly
useful as you seem to believe...

(Though I don't deny they are useful)

-- 
_________________  "I'd like to answer this question in two ways:
  /____ _ _/_ __       First in my normal voice, and then
 // / //_//_ /_/       in a silly, high-pitched whine." (Monty Python)