From: larry@lablues.UUCP (Lawrance A. Schneider)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: PageWriter
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 92 12:56:36 EDT
Organization: L/A Blues BBS - Auburn ME (207) 777-3465

Shawn Ledbetter had some questions:

|Has anybody heard of any new developments in PageWriter GS?...
|...does it support nroff, troff, or any other of the unix text
|formatters?

    Yes it is being worked on; Chet is removing all "emulation mode" code 
thanks to help from Matt Deatheridge(?); I am working on a Hebrew font 
thanks to help from Eliezer Keren.  However, Chet is having an cataract 
operation and gathering his grapes for his wine business.  I work full 
time and go to graduate school (MBA) and we (wife and I) are having a 
baby!  So, things may take a while.

     Ignorance is bliss which is why I'm in heaven.  I do not have a UNIX 
system; thus, I do not know what "nroff, troff" are!  I'm having trouble 
getting GNO to work because of my ignorance of UNIX (I hope that that is 
the reason!).

|will it handle QWK packets?  My final question is how close is it to
|completion?

     QWK uses high ascii.  Apple Writer and PageWriterGS use the 
characters (fonts) internal to the mama board ROM.  Paul Parkhurst has 
given me permission to use the fonts and "screen" he worked up for 
ANSIterm; to do QWK completely, we would need some way of handling 
(putting on the screen) the few extra high ascii codes.  I was told that 
Mike Ratledge is the author of QWK; I have called his board a few times 
to get the complete specs for QWK; HE HAS NOT REPLIED!!!  I do have the 
description by Jeffery Foy; I don't think it tells all!!  At present, I 
can read a QWK file fine; until I have worked up the "ANSIterm" screen 
completely into PageWriterGS, I cannot form a packet for up loading.  
Thus, I can handle a missive like this from Shawn Ledbetter, but I cannot 
handle multiple messages or multiple message areas which is the purpose 
of the QWK format; i.e. that is where the high ascii comes in; used as 
delimiters.  The wpl to handle multiple messages and multiple areas are 
simple; they merely form a relational database with multiple keys.  As I 
said, I'm busy and it will take time to implement QWK.

  
                    FURTHER!!!

     We are concerned of legalities.  While Mr. Lutus has placed Apple 
Writer 2.1 into the public domain, he has not placed the source code into 
P.D.; our work is based on my disassembling of the original.  We have not 
been able to get in contact with Mr. Lutus to see if he cares.  (GS) is a 
trademark of Apple Computer; the program is called PageWriterGS; will Mac 
Inc. give us trouble????  Chet has written Mr. (I hate the II) Skulley(?) 
directly hoping to get permission; we have not tried to go through Mac 
Inc. legal department feeling, it being the largest department, it would 
be futile; Steve Disbrow has assured me it is futile to contact the Mac 
Inc. legal department; he got his permission to use (GS) directly from 
Skulley.  While we feel that our work is original, CAN WE PROVE IT??  
Further, DO WE WANT TO!!  While many of you will reply that our chances 
of being sued are less than delta, epsilon/delta arguments are of no 
value!!  My lawyer assures that the question is not the likely hood of 
being sued, BUT THE AFFORD ABILITY of being sued!  Those who have seen 
the program immediately recognize it as being like Apple Writer; any 
"wpl" (can we legally use that term?) you have written for Apple Writer 
will still work in PageWriterGS; the same goes for any "glossary" (can we 
legally use that term?) you may have worked up.  Yes, we intend to 
release PageWriterGS; first we will _cross our "T"s a and dot our "I"s._

larry@lablues.UUCP
FidoNet:  1:132/300 Larry Schneider

     / 7: " Wovon Man nicht sprechen kann,  |  Larry Schneider
    /        daruber muss man Schweigen."   |  Bright Software
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Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2