HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: Graham.Shaw@newcastle.ac.uk (G.D.Shaw)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Why isn't everything PD ?
Date: 18 Aug 92 11:17:50 GMT
Organization: University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK NE1 7RU

In article <1992Aug17.141647.1@vxdesy.desy.de> burke@vxdesy.desy.de writes:
>There is an end - as far as I know, algorithms can be PATENTED (much more
>powerful than copyright). I assume that LZW isn't, otherwise you would have to
>pay someone a (big) fee to use it.
>
The LZW algorithm is patented in the United States, by both IBM and
Unisys (see the FAQ for comp.compression).

I don't know whether there are any equivalent UK or netherland patents
in existance (I suspect there probably aren't, but don't take my word
on this).

Graham Shaw (dph3gds@tuda.ncl.ac.uk)
Department of Physics, Durham University, England.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Why isn't everything PD ?
From: jwil1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (TMOTA)
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1992 23:38:17 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept. University of Auckland

mcg@waikato.ac.nz writes:

> The point is, since you're charging people to use your software, is a 
>percentage going to the original Authors of the Text, from which you obtained 
>the LZW routine, and/or the Original Authors of the routine itself?!?!?

But he doesn't have to, because they're Public Domain! ;-)

But seriously, there is a line between copying someone else's idea because
you are lazy and using an industry standard (tried and true) mechanism.
So long as you are not using copyright material illegally, there is no
problem. (e.g. it's alright to port Moria and make it freeware on the
arc, but it's illegal to port and then sell it)

I personally believe that the main differences between FreeWare and Commercial
software are:
  * Ideally (definitely not true in the real world) Commercial should mean
    good quality, while Freeware theoretically means "pot luck"

  * Generally, commercial programs are written after deciding that there is
    a market for a product, while Freeware is written by somebody in their
    spare time because *they* wanted such a program, and then given away
    for free because it's not big enough/quality enough to be sold
    commercially, or because the author is generous.
    (In my case: "I have written this program, so why not let everyone else
    benefit from it?")

For the programmer:
The benefit for the commercial product is money.
The benefit from Freeware software is acclaim, and fringe-benefits (discs/
money sent by happy users, discs full of freeware as a swap, etc)

For users:
Commmercial software is more likely to be "virus free", tested on a range of
platforms, etc. You can get your money back. You can get support.
Commercial products should tend to be better, faster, etc. than Freeware
(though with good Freeware and bad Commercial, this is quite often
not the case!)
Freeware is free, but pot-luck.

-- 
_________________  "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)
From: gta@st-andrews.ac.uk (Graham Allan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: impression->TEX
Date: 12 Aug 92 19:37:20 GMT
Reply-To: gta@st-andrews.ac.uk
Organization: Greyfriars mail-relay

cstevens@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes:

>    anyone out there know if CC's Impression can produce TEX output files?
> does anyone have a module that'll convert from one to the other. I've been
> told that there's an option to produce an ascii output in something called
> the document description language. I don't have impression yet, so i don't
> know anything about this but it sounds like it might be a TEX like format.
> If this was possible I'd be able to forget about the 15Meg of TEX I have,
> buy impression and use that instead (which by many accounts is better).
> Unfortunately my printing facilities reaslly require a TEX format to get the
> best output.

Impression cannot produce TeX output files directly, and the chances of CC
adding such a facility is infinitesimal!

The Impression Document Description Language contains formatting
instructions for the text - mainly delimited by curly brackets, eg
{"Italic" on} to switch on the italic style (styles are also defined by the
language). So, yes, in principle you could convert such a file to TeX format
(maybe using a tool like sed, as someone else suggested?).

The option to save files as document description language only operates on
individual 'stories' in Impression though, so is only suitable for
straightforward pieces of text (as a single chapter). You lose any more
elaborate page-layout data, together with any graphics. I think it is
probably similar in cababilities to the Microsoft Rich Text Format.

I find it a bit strange to compare TeX and Impression: Impression excels at
many things from simple wordprocessing to fairly elaborate page layout, but
for any technical-type documents, especially including equations, TeX is
far more suitable. In particular, Impression can't handle such constructs as
footnotes, which are sometimes pretty important! Don't even think about
setting out equations in it. If you want a RISC OS, WYSIWYG-type document
processor for technical documents, you could try TechWriter. I only saw it
briefly, but it seems to handle equation setting very well and supports
other useful things like footnotes, chapter and section headings, tables
(not Impression's kludge version) etc. You can also import graphics, though
the page layout facilities are not as good as in Impression.

As for printing, all RISC OS applications will output PostScript using the
PrinterPS printer driver, so you should be able to get high-quality output
from any such program. If you still need a TeX format for some other reason,
I would guess the existance of a PostScript to TeX converter is a lot more
likely than that of an Impression to TeX converter.

Graham
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Graham Allan
Physics Dept, University of St.Andrews                   gta@st-andrews.ac.uk
From: r_voisey@csd.brispoly.ac.uk (R Voisey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Why isn't everything PD ?
Date: 18 Aug 92 22:44:56 GMT
Organization: Bristol Polytechnic, England

In article <1992Aug17.094849.10128@waikato.ac.nz> mcg@waikato.ac.nz writes:

>Answer: Because dweebs like you, John, like to make a fast buck at the 
>expense of the common people who don't have the expertise/time to create the 
>software.
>
>You obviously didn't create software just to have your name/piccy splashed 
>across the info bar.....

Are you seriously suggesting that it is morally wrong to write software with
the expectation of making money out of it?  Are you perhaps a member of some
software liberation organisation?  The Popular Public-Domain Peoples Front
or something?

I suggest you rethink your outlook on computer software..   some people make
their software free of charge for one or more of the following reasons:

	1  It's not good enough to be commercial
	2  It performs too small a task to be commercial
	3  The author wants to make a name for himself
	4  The author couldn't be bothered to deal with publishers etc
	5  The program would be illegal if commercial (exact lookalikes etc)

Some people, however, choose to make their software commercial (I include
Shareware in this bracket), possibly because:

	1  They've spent a HELLUVA lot of time and effort on it
	2  It's really rather good
	3  People are willing to pay for it (even if it's not so good)
	4  The author would quite like to be able to pay his rent next week

Since you were originally referring to Translator in particular, I'll make some
observations.  Translator is obviously the result of many many hours of
work.  The author has consistently improved the product, often fixing bugs
discovered by end users.  Although John is not my favourite person, and I feel
that he has gone the wrong way about marketting his product, I absolutely
defend his right to demand recompense for his work.

Your claim that he has stolen sections of the code (or words to that effect)
hold very little water indeed..   you are referring to PROTOCOLS.  He has
used protocols designed by somebody else.  OF COURSE HE HAS!  Translator
would not be one helluva lot of use if it couldn't decompress GIF files!

If some people are kind enough to supply their software for free that's their
right, and they deserve our thanks.  But I feel that it is quite wrong to
condemn somebody who expects to make a few bucks from their efforts.  Have you
considered joining a commune?

Feel free to followup in comp.sys.acorn.advocacy

Cheers

Bob
-- 
Robert J. Voisey  :  r_voisey@csd.brispoly.ac.uk   (Janet)
GUI coders do it     Bob Voisey @ 2:252/106.0      (Fidonet)
on the desktop       Bob Voisey @ 100:104/106.0    (TurboNet)
From: torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Minix/Linux
Date: 17 Aug 92 19:19:39 GMT
Organization: University of Helsinki

In article <4293@inca.comlab.ox.ac.uk> as@prg.ox.ac.uk (Andrew Stevens) writes:
>>What are the possibilities of getting Linux running on the Archimedes,
>>would anyone that has attempted to port Minix like to comment ?
>
>I'd say Linux would be *very* hard to port to anything.   It was explicitly
>written from the ground up for the Intel 386/486 architecture.   It does
>lots of things efficiently but non-portably by using features of the
>MMU CPU etc etc.    Much better bets would be BSD NET2 (or even 386BSD)
>or Mach.

I'm afraid he's right: linux on the archimedes would be an almost
impossible quest.  If I've understood correctly, even the minix port has
some problems, and that's despite the fact that minix isn't that
hardware-dependent (but maybe they were just driver-problems: "just" a
matter of some programming - no fundamental problems). 

While I have changed linux so that it no longer uses the 386 segments to
keep processes off each others data-space (it's now done using only the
paging unit), there are still a lot of 386-specific stuff in there, and
that isn't likely to change in the near future.  Linux was originally
written just to teach me about the 386, so portability was never a
concern: I used every feature I could find. 

		Linus

PS.  I don't read this group regularly, so if you have questions, it's
probably best to mail them to me: while I don't answer all the mail I
get, it's still a safer bet.
From: pcolmer@acorn.co.uk (Philip Colmer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Game cheaters
Date: 17 Aug 92 07:11:47 GMT
Organization: Acorn Computers Ltd, Cambridge, England

Do you have any cheats for games? If so, please send them to me as I
want to produce an FAQ of cheats.

--Philip

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Recommended reading: Rising Sun by Michael Crichton ... a frightening vision
From: tomc@siesoft.co.uk (Tom Crossland)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: So, should I buy an A540 now or wait for what's behind door #1?
Date: 12 Aug 92 16:13:52 GMT
Reply-To: tomc@siesoft.co.uk
Distribution: comp
Organization: Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems Ltd.

jkh@sparc3.lotus.com (Jordan K Hubbard) writes:

: Since I can't make up my mind, I thought I'd ask you Acorn owners, who
: are closer to the rumor mill on these things (and have a better
: appreciation of the joys of Archie ownership as well), just what the
: heck I should do.

If  anything  big  is  going  to  be  released  it  will  most
probably  be  released  just  before the AU show. Why not wait
until then and if nothing comes up, opt for an A5000.

--
___ _ __
  ((_))))...
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Reading mode variables
From: jwil1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (TMOTA)
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1992 21:13:10 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept. University of Auckland

gpcec@sun.pcl.ac.uk (Tom Kirby-Green) writes:
>         I'm using the OS_ReadModeV SWI to get the screen pixel
>res. Placing 4 and 5 in R1 for the horizontal and vertical
>res, with R2 containing the result which is interpreted as follows

This is not the best way to do this. I can't remember the specifics of
the calls, but you can use ReadModeV/ReadVduVariables to read the
number of pixels wide and high of any screen mode, and also the "XEig" and
"YEig" factors, from which you can calculate the OS coordinate width and
height of the screen. This will then work correctly for *any* screen mode,
and not just 1280/640/320/160 x 512/256 sizes.

I don't have the info. close at hand, but I can try to remember to look it
up if you like... but if you have info on ReadMode/VDU Variables calls,
you should be able to find the 4 calls needed without any problems...
-- 
_________________  "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)
From: dhmyrdal@SOLAN.UNIT.NO (Dag H}kon Myrdal)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: impression->TEX
Date: 21 Aug 92 16:19:08 GMT
Organization: University of Trondheim

Impression document description format text files look much like LaTeX
files, but does not use the same syntax. Also, CC lacks a
text-representation of maths and figures in general.

It should be possible to write a Impression DDF to TeX converter,
though...

-
As regards printing...
Why don't you use PostScript or laserjet output files and use the same
place where you usually output TeX format files?
I usually print PostScript to an MSDOS disk, and takes this either
to the uni's SUN machines, and use 'lpr' to print, or find a
laserprinter directly attached to a PC...


--Dag H.
From: kelly@minster.york.ac.uk
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: VIDC Enhancer
Date: 21 Aug 92 10:08:50 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of York, England
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

Hi,

I would be grateful for some advice...

I was just wondering what exactly a VIDC Enhancer does and what advantage does
this offer me ( I own an A440/1 with a Taxan 775 multysinc monitor ). Are the
extra modes offered any better than what the standard VIDC setup can provide?

Are they worth the 30 odd pounds they cost?

Thanks 

Ian

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ian T. Kelly             |
University of York, UK   |
kelly@minster.york.ac.uk |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: gaspar@urz.unibas.ch
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Apple II emulator
Date: 21 Aug 92 13:29:58 MET
Organization: University of Basel, Switzerland

I was away for some time, so I hope this question wasn't asked before:
How do I get !apple to work?
I have the ROM image, but don't know what to do with it. (a help file would
be useful...)
The programme just crashed saying: illegal adress.
Thanks for any help.

laci 

*******************************************************************************
*             Laci Gaspar, University Basel, Switzerland                      *
*******************************************************************************
From: Robert.Turner@brunel.ac.uk (Robert Turner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: new PC's, what's happening acorn?
Date: 18 Aug 92 07:45:00 GMT
Organization: Brunel University, West London, UK

lithgow@upjomon.usl.com (Malcolm Lithgow) writes:=
%No, they are not, unless 'pretty good' means 'not making a loss'. Their
%share prices dropped quite a bit when they released their latest results,
%which, though not a loss, were disappointing.

Not really relevant, but on one of the London radio stations Acorn was
classified as a 'fast mover' in the share market on Friday. Was this by
any chance just after the meeting announcing new machines which was
reported here?

Also, as a by-word, I hear that the games machine was launched
(officially) almost a week ago. Is this true?

Rob



-- 
 _________________________________________________________________________
/                            |                                            \
|   Rob Turner, PC Support   |     email : Robert.Turner@brunel.ac.uk     |
|   Brunel University        |                                            |
|   London, England          |       Oi, Who switched on reality ?        |
\____________________________|____________________________________________/
From: andyf@yama.uk.sun.com (Andrew Fox - Sun UK - Answer centre)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: ANNUAL C++ REQUEST
Date: 12 Aug 92 16:02:23 GMT
Reply-To: andyf@yama.uk.sun.com
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: yama.uk.sun.com

Hi,

	Acorn have recently held a developers conference in Cambridge and due to
	overwhelming demand agreed to develop a C++ compiler.

	It has been seen as a major oversight on Acorn's part that such a product
	has not been forthcoming much sooner, but it is now scheduled for release
	first or second quarter 1993.

	It is being developed by Norcroft, and will adhere to the current C++
	standard specifications.

	I hope this helps to relieve the gloom that lots of you must probably be
	feeling concerning this obvious oversight from Acorn.

Cheers for now,

	AndyF.

	(Sun Microsystems Post Sales Support).
From: sks@cs.man.ac.uk (Steve Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Help My Disc Drive is dying!!
Summary: disc drive RIP
Date: 19 Aug 92 10:52:07 GMT
Reply-To: sks@fiveg.icl.co.uk (Steve Smith)

I keep getting Disc Error 08 on my old A310 floppy drive.
I think the top head is worn out.
I've tried cleaning the heads with I.P.Alcohol but it doesn't help.
Anyone know where I can get a new drive?? Cheap? Repair? Second hand?
Preferably one that fits in the A310?

ta
SteeveS
From: J.W.Harley@newcastle.ac.uk (Jon Harley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: IRC session
Date: 12 Aug 92 15:54:47 GMT
Organization: University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, NE1 7RU

s047@SAND.SICS.BU.OZ.AU (Jeremy Lee) writes:

>In article <1992Aug10.031107.25413@usage.csd.unsw.OZ.AU> you write:
>>
>>Invite to an Archimedes IRC-Session:
>>
>>When:    Friday, August 21 9.00am AEST (+10 hrs GMT)
>
>In the MORNING!!!!
>
>It's surprising.. I've rarely seen anyone from the UK on IRC. Can anyone
>suggest why? Could I get some sort of response to the number of people
>who have access to IRC. If there is enough interest, I might set up a
>bot and make #acorn a semi-permenant channel.
>
>I'll hope to be there.

Possibly because of the 9 hour time difference. Try looking in channel
#uk!

There are at least 2 archimedes-owning regulars of #uk, myself (Jimblewix)
and AlexMC. IRCers may feel free to contact me. Can't see any need for
an AcornServ bot though.


/jon
   ___________________ ____ ________________________________________
  / -- Jonathan Harley \  /_     One of the "merry scurrying       //    //  //
 / J.W.Harley@ncl.ac.uk \/ /     pixy folk"  (--John Fisher)      // // //////
/_Phone:UK 091 222 8504__\/__[B2t+w-g+svrp]___________________///////////  //
From: row@bnr.co.uk
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Minix/Linux
Date: 14 Aug 92 13:22:46 GMT
Reply-To: row@bnr.co.uk ()
Organization: BNR Europe Limited, London Road, Harlow, Essex, GB

Has anybody got a port of Minix working ?

The README file for the Minix ported by Martin Patze that I got
from titania.mathematik.uni-ulm.de via ftp doesn't sound too promising:

>The port was a one shot. It was never intended to release the port, so...
>documentation? What is it? Many things are missing or don't work as they
>should (Floppy should, but does not work, rs232 & lp are missing, also some
>kernel functions - especially the ptrace system call - are not ported).
>Demand paging works. C compiler must be used under Risc-OS.
>I used Norcroft-C Version 2.01A.

>Another WARNING: I dont't know, if I started the port from plain 1.5.10.
>So it could be possible that some patches can't be applied correctly.
>You will have to edit the files by hand...
>...Yep! The port didn't start from plain 1.5.10. You will have problems
>using the patches. Sorry.

Has anyone other than Martin got this to compile and run ?

What are the possibilities of getting Linux running on the Archimedes,
would anyone that has attempted to port Minix like to comment ?

Thanks

P.S All these people who are making their software "shareware" suck - espicially
when they ask the net for help ! Peeps give their help for free and then they
start selling the software. How many of these people use all the wonderful
PD software that other people have written - why should they charge ? 

P.P.S Note the lack of :-) in the above !

Reuben O. Wells	- BNR Europe Ltd - (+44) 279 403704
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
From: t-piersh@microsoft.com (Piers Haken)
Subject: Re: RISC OS 3 Applications Discs
Date: 13 Aug 92 21:24:05 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA 98052

In article <1992Aug12.182316.10022@cs.nott.ac.uk> psyhsmb@unicorn.nott.ac.uk (Simon Burrows) writes:
>I've just been looking at the RISC OS 3.10 Applications Discs, and was
>surprised to see that the main difference between these and those supplied
>with RISC OS 3.00 is that the BASIC !RunImage files have been run through
>a crunching program, making them almost totally incomprehensible.
>
>I am wondering if there is a particular reason for this? Was it necessary
>to save space, or is it the result of a new policy to try to stop users seeing
>how Acorn programs work? It seems to be setting a bad example to other users,
>who should be encouraged not to crunch their programs unless essential.
>
>Please could someone enlighten us?
>
>Simon.
Probably both, have a look at some of the basic programs in the
resources directories in ROM. Working out how to write RO3 printer
drivers is a complete nightmare.

Piers.

-- 
Disclaimer: These views are my own and not necessarily
            those of the company for which I work.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
From: smb@cs.nott.ac.uk (Simon Burrows)
Subject: Re: New machines from Acorn.
Organization: Nottingham University
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 92 14:32:44 GMT

Watford Electronics have started advertising the Grand Opening of their
new headquarters in Luton, UK. The advertisement states that Acorn Computers
will be using the event to showcase their new RISC based computer. The
advertisement points out that they are not referring to the A4.

This event is on 6th September. The Acorn Open Day in Birmingham is due to
be held at about the same time, and the new developments will apparently be
on display there.

Simon.
From: r_voisey@csd.brispoly.ac.uk (R Voisey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.advocacy
Subject: Re: Disasters / Near Disasters
Date: 21 Aug 92 22:59:48 GMT
Organization: Bristol Polytechnic, England
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

mcg@waikato.ac.nz wrote:

: Hey,I (accidently) shorted my CMOS RAM, all you do is just (D/)R-Power-ON to 
: reset the defualt values; noting that the screen jumped and flickered before 
: setting down after 5 minutes (no desktop).

No, that doesn't work if the CMOS is _really_ screwed.

Bob
-- 
Robert J. Voisey  :  r_voisey@csd.brispoly.ac.uk   (Janet)
GUI coders do it     Bob Voisey @ 2:252/106.0      (Fidonet)
on the desktop       Bob Voisey @ 100:104/106.0    (TurboNet)