HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: kers@hplb.hpl.hp.com (Chris Dollin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: OS differences and improvements (Was Re: new PC's, what's happening acorn?)
Date: 28 Aug 92 14:00:45 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Bristol, UK.

In article ... goodwin@edieng.enet.dec.com (Pete Goodwin) writes:

   Whenever I read UNIX shell scripts they read like gibberish. Full of strange
   characters like ~ ` ' # or $. You need to be a real expert to see what's 
   going on.

When I read a BASIC program, it reads like gibberish. Full of strange names and
characters, like CHR$~, +=, BGET#X%, or $name. You need to be a real expert to
see what's coing on.

When I read a C program, it reads like gibberish. Full of strange names and
characters, like ||, strlen, fopen, ~, ', {}. You need to be a real expert to
see what's going on.

In fact, *any* language looks like ``gibberish'' if you don't know what it
means. There's no law, natural or otherwise, that says you can understand
something without learning it first. If you don't take the trouble to learn the
language, don't complain that you don't understand it.

Now, I agree that the names of Unix commands are rather, urm, obscure. [``Unix
is as user-friendly as a cornered rt''.] And I agree that the
substitution-based command language suffers from the defects of *any*
substitution-based language. But a Unix script is *much* more powerful than a
RISC OS obey file. Oh, *how many times* have I wanted the equivalent of

	for name in files_called( '*' ) do execute( 'command ' >< name ) endfor

(no, this isn't a Unix scipting language). Or pipes. I, even I, would gladly
pay for the power by putting up with the gibberish. Of course, I'd rather have
a proper programming language instead.

Afterthought:

When I read a Pepper program it reads like a literary marvel. Full of
beautiful characters like ->, [], ==, @max, and wonderful idioms like the open
stack. Even a complete novice can understand it immediately.

Smilies abound.


--

Regards,    | "The date of death of a sentient entity must never be
Kers.       | mentioned in a Dirac 'cast." - Blish, ``The Quincunx of Time''.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
From: kortink@cs.utwente.nl (John Kortink)
Subject: The split was bad anyway
Organization: University of Twente, Dept. of Computer Science
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 10:55:50 GMT

steve@acorn.co.uk (Steve "daffy" Hunt) writes :

>I have noticed a number of crossposted articles on these groups
>recently.  I expected this when the split was proposed, which is why I
>voted NO to it.
>
>Please don't crosspost between the comp.sys.acorn.* groups unless it
>is REALLY necessary (almost never).
>[...]

I agree with this wholeheartedly. The split in itself is bloody
annoying (doesn't everyone read *all* the groups anyway ?), and
makes reading mail 4 times more laborious than it was. It's gets
even worse when people cross-post mega-mails, only to be lugged
around multiple times, unnecessarily.

Could it be that 'NO' voters stayed away ? Or is the voting
system unfair ? Was everyone who voted 'yes' just trying to
be innovative instead of sensible ?

The non-c.s.a. groups only get a one or two messages a day !
Does this give people a hint ?

Not out of want to criticize things all the way in this posting,
but could people also *please* use quoting sensibly ? I still see
messages carrying long parts of articles at the bottom, with no
reaction following. This is pollution in the most profound sense
of the word. Don't be so lazy, edit things out please, they are
usually not read anyway !

Hoping for better times.

John Kortink

Student of Informatics at the University of Twente, The Netherlands
NETMAIL : kortink@cs.utwente.nl              DISCLAIMER : the usual
From: steve@acorn.co.uk (Steve "daffy" Hunt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: A plea about crossposting
Date: 2 Sep 92 18:38:36 GMT
Organization: Acorn Computers Limited, Cambridge, UK
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

I have noticed a number of crossposted articles on these groups
recently.  I expected this when the split was proposed, which is why I
voted NO to it.

Please don't crosspost between the comp.sys.acorn.* groups unless it
is REALLY necessary (almost never).

Especially of you voted YES to the split!

Note: this message is not crossposted, even though it was tempting...

-- Steve
-- 
				Steve Hunt	steve@acorn.co.uk
From: osmith@acorn.co.uk (Owen Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Acorn Press Release 6 of 8 (A3000 rang
Date: 2 Sep 92 15:21:34 GMT
Organization: Acorn Computers Ltd, Cambridge, England

In article <la88ajINN4gq@cronkite> andyf@yama.uk.sun.com (Andrew Fox - Sun
UK - Answer centre) writes:

>Current versions of the A3010 don't actually have the ARM250 chip in them.
>They actually have an adapter board with the same footprint and pinouts as
>the ARM250 which has the ARM2, VIDC, MEMC1a and IOC chips on it.

>I would have thought that an ARM3 upgrade for this version of the machine is
>quite feasible, being no more difficult than the upgrade for current A3000
>owners.

Sorry, but even if you desolder the surface mount ARM2, it's so close to the
other chips on the board that I reckon you can't get a surface mount chip
socket on where the ARM2 was. Also with an ARM3 board on top of the adaptor
board, things are getting rather close to the back edge of the keyboard and
the lid.

Owen.
From: dhmyrdal@SOLAN.UNIT.NO (Dag H}kon Myrdal)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Internationalisation
Date: 1 Sep 92 15:00:08 GMT
Organization: University of Trondheim

In article <1992Sep1.034413.19776@maths.tcd.ie> Merlin writes:

>If we are to have support for multiple languages in a certain
>forthcoming product, what should we use to determine the country?
>
>1) User is asked when they first run the game. This is saved, but
>    can be changed later by selecting an option somewhere.
>2) Defaults to configured country. This can again be changed, by
>    selecting the aformentioned option.
>

I'm strongly in favour of the way it's done with !Impression.
This has several text-files in a resource-directory hidden inside
the application-dir.
The thing is, that this approach :
1) is easy to use for beginners...
   As much as possible of the machine should adjust to the 'country'
   cmos-setting.
2) enables users like me to have the country set to Norway (for
   alphabetic sorts, time & date etc), but at the same time possible
   to override this setting for certain applications.
   (I have renamed the "UK" text-file under Impression to "norway", but 
   changed kept a lot of things from the original "norway" text, 
   (so that the dictionary understands that "ae" "oe" "aa" (aeo/aa) is letters,
    and that they belong at the end of the norwegian alphabet...)

>Then, what languages should we support? Due to limited resources
>we will only be able to support a subset of the global languages.
>What are Acorn's major foreign markets?
>(We'll probably do a few more countries than come with the main
>release, but you'd need to ask specifically for them.)

Sounds like a wise strategy...
What languages? errrr, dunno.......

--Dag


--Dag Haakon Myrdal,             dhmyrdal@solan.unit.no -
-  Omega Verksted,               ED-avd, N-7034 NTH     -
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From: aglover@acorn.co.uk (Alan Glover)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Acorn Press Release 2 of 8 (RISC OS)
Date: 27 Aug 92 10:28:48 GMT
Organization: Acorn Computers Ltd, Cambridge, England

Acorn's RISC OS 3 Now Available for All

Acorn Computers is releasing the latest version of its RISC
operating system - RISC OS 3 - as an upgrade for existing
users.

First installed in Acorn's A5000 computer, RISC OS 3
provides some 300 key enhancements evolved from its
predecessor, RISC OS 2.  Because RISC OS 3 builds upon many
of the key features of its predecessor  it ensures ease of
use and continuity for those switching over to the new
version of the operating system. It offers complete
compatibility with RISC OS 2 and allows the use of the
2,000-plus titles already available for Acorn's range of
Archimedes computers.

Some of these new advantages include multi-tasking filing
and formatting operations, improvements in the use of the
desktop environment and in the use of iconized windows,
improved printer support, the ability to read DOS-format
discs, support for high density floppy discs, new hot key
support, and the ability to run up to 128 tasks
concurrently.

Twelve fonts are now provided in the 2MB of ROM together
with many of the key applications provided with Acorn's
range of RISC machines including Draw, Paint and Edit. These
applications themselves have been further refined and
improved to increase their versatility.

RISC OS 3 can be fitted to all of Acorn's family of RISC
computers including the Archimedes range and UNIX
workstations. However, the original A305, A310 and A440 (but
not the A440/1) need a simple modification in order to fit
the larger ROMS. This dealer-only upgrade will be available
at the same time as the software upgrade kit.

Acorn's Marketing Director Mike O'Riordan said of the new
upgrade "In line with our policy of offering our customers
the choice of moving up to new technology in a timescale
that suits them, we have ensured that RISC OS 3 is fully
backwards compatible with existing applications designed for
RISC OS 2. 

"However", he added, "I am convinced that there are so many
advantages to be gained for existing users to upgrade that
many will choose the early upgrade option."

The new RISC OS upgrade kit will be available in quantity
from September 1992 at the following prices:

RISC OS Upgrade kit                      #89 
        Special price until mid-1993     #49 
Existing A5000 owner special upgrade 
         (but no manuals)                #19 
Hardware upgrade for 305/310/440 users   #30


Ends




_______________________________________________________________________________

aglover@acorn.co.uk, moderator of comp.sys.acorn.announce. Submissions to
announce-request@acorn.co.uk, other related mail to announcer@acorn.co.uk.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: VIRUS ALERT in New Zealand (Auckland)
From: jwil1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (TMOTA)
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1992 23:43:10 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept. University of Auckland

pdenize@waikato.ac.nz writes:

>Sorry guys,

>Last night I discovered a virus in New Zealand.  So as not to pat the 
>twerp who wrote this virus I will give a small check so that many of us can see
>if we and even our colleagues in clubs are free of this nasty.

>It disguises itself as a Sprite file called Icon and is really a BASIC file.

<Sigh> That's been around in New Zealand for at least a year, I'm afraid...
Just consider yourself lucky to have only just got it.

>Search your disks, if you find "Icon" then do the following avoid running new
>applications.  This is how it moves.  Delete all the "Icon" files (keeping
>track of the places you delete it from).  When you think you have them all

The best method of innoculation agains "Icon" is to save a file into
each application directory called "Icon". (I use a text file that says
"Innoculation against Icon virus"). Every app. on my 10MB HDD has such a file,
and Icon is no longer a problem.

>reset your machine (CTRL RESET) then check again, if you find another then
>repeat the process.  When you have them all you may be getting warnings like
>File Icon not found.  This is because you have crippled the virus.  Now edit 
>the !Boot files and delete the lines 

Also, if you run Acorn's VProtect module, it detects any attempt by Icon
to even start up.
-- 
_________________  "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: J.W.Harley@newcastle.ac.uk (Jon Harley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: The split was bad anyway
Date: 3 Sep 92 16:21:21 GMT
Organization: University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, NE1 7RU

kortink@cs.utwente.nl (John Kortink) writes:
>steve@acorn.co.uk (Steve "daffy" Hunt) writes :
>
>>I have noticed a number of crossposted articles on these groups
>>recently.  I expected this when the split was proposed, which is why I
>>voted NO to it.
>>[...]
>I agree with this wholeheartedly. The split in itself is bloody
>annoying (doesn't everyone read *all* the groups anyway ?), and
>makes reading mail 4 times more laborious than it was. It's gets
>even worse when people cross-post mega-mails, only to be lugged
>around multiple times, unnecessarily.

I agree too, on principle, though in practice a decent newsreader only
shows you a crossposted article once.

>Could it be that 'NO' voters stayed away ? Or is the voting
>system unfair ? Was everyone who voted 'yes' just trying to
>be innovative instead of sensible ?

I never saw *any* discussion of the split in comp.sys.acorn; whether
they didn't make it to my site, or whether they were in some unrelated
thread that I didn't read, I don't know. I didn't know about the split
until it happened. How much discussion was there anyway?


//jon
   ___________________ ____ ________________________________________
  / -- Jonathan Harley \  /_   Could be an ever opening flower...  //    //  //
 / J.W.Harley@ncl.ac.uk \/ /  It's the beginning of               // // //////
/_Phone:UK 091 222 8504__\/__a new love inside________________///////////  //
From: mcg@waikato.ac.nz
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: VIRUS (Authorities ?)y
Date: 31 Aug 92 18:12:46 +1200
Organization: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

In article <1992Aug24.164928.9467@csi.on.ca>, richard@csi.on.ca (Richard Martin) writes:
> Viruses are not fun.
> Discourage.
> Burn their machines.
> In front of them.
> Burn their disks.
> In front of them.
> Make them watch as *their* machine is destroyed.
> Then...
> Tickle 'em real hard!
> (PS - Can you bounce the bugger back at the perpetrator?)
> Richard. (Who has lost too many files to viruses.)


.... And then you discover you got the wrong guy......oh well, never mind...
From Martin Glanvill		(mcg@waikato.ac.nz)

Dept. Maths 							      @@@@@/|@
University of Waikato						      @@@@/ |@
Hamilton							      @@@/__|@
New Zealand							      @@/   |@
								      @@@@@@@@

----------------****=====| A quote to make your day |======****-----------------
If you go on a trip taking two bags with you, one containing everything you
 need for the trip and the other containing absolutely nothing, the second bag
 will be completely filled with junk acquired on the trip when you return.
                                        -- Tony Hogg
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: osmith@acorn.co.uk (Owen Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Acorn Press Release 7 of 8 (A4000 range)
Date: 2 Sep 92 15:21:01 GMT
Organization: Acorn Computers Ltd, Cambridge, England

In article <1992Sep1.152842.15492@odin.diku.dk> torbenm@diku.dk (Torben
AEgidius Mogensen) writes:

>>There is a 2MB floppy disc
>>drive which, with RISC OS 3,  can automatically detect and
>>use Acorn and PC discs. Another major feature of this three
>>box solution is the newly restyled keyboard.

>Is the automatic disc detection available on the 3010/3020 also?

The automatic Acorn/PC disc detection works on any model of Archimedes
fitted with RISC OS 3. Even an A300 can do it. 2MB disc formats (1.6 MB ADFS
and 1.44 MB DOS) are only available on the A5000 and newer models.

>How is the keyboard restyled? I hope no key has been put between the
>left Shift key and Z.

The layout has not been changed. It's just the appearance that's different.

Owen.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
From: smackinla@cc.curtin.edu.au
Subject: ARM chipset details/prices?
Organization: Curtin University of Technology
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 16:00:12 GMT


Hi. I'm interested in (perhaps) building a computer for myself based on an
ARM chipset of some sort. Can anyone give me a list of the various sets
available and some details on each of them?

What I'm interested in is things like: clock speed, cache size, approximate
MIPS, VIDC capabilities, and other details on the family. As far as I am
aware, there are 3 separate sets in use, ARM2, ARM3 and the new ARM6. I
_think_ that the ARM6 is way out of my league, but I'm still interested in
finding out about it...

BTW: If possible, can anyone recommend any books or magazine articles that
I should read about ARMs?

Pat -- Have a day!
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
From: guttorm@hp825.bih.no (Guttorm Vik)
Subject: StrongED II version 1.10
Organization: Bergen College of Engineering, Bergen, Norway.
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 92 15:46:48 GMT

StrongED II is now finished. I've sent it off to all my registered users today,
and I'll release it to the rest of the world in a months time.
It's actually quite good..
It has undo/redo, throwback, fewer bugs, lots of furry little details with big,
brown eyes.., clof (list of found c-functions), +++
StrongHelp is editable, +++

Word of warning: Search/Replace is still rather basic. A more advanced one is
planned for the xmas release. There is one improvement though: Search/Replace
can be limited to marked block.

PS: I still hate Emacs...
 _
(-)rmStrong
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
From: rabin@dcs.qmw.ac.uk (Rabin Ezra)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: A680, Need disk tools (UNIX)
Keywords: A680, UNIX, SCSI, kernel
Date: 26 Aug 92 13:29:07 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept, QMW, University of London, UK.
Originator: rabin@daphne

I have been given an A680 which was scrapped due to a power supply
failure. Its hard disk was trashed sufficiently that I can't even bring
it up single user properly. The A680 has different SCSI hardware to all
the other Acorn UNIX products so I can't just boot it from an external
for one of our other machines.  Can anybody out there help? I'd be
willing to travel out to you with a drive to grab a kernel, disc
formating/partitioning tools, and a minmimum network set up.  I could
then rebuild locally, as all the non-SCSI stuff is common across all
the machines (I think)

It would be a pity to have to scrap the machine. Even with only an
ARM2, 8Mb of memory made it a very usable personal machine. So is there
any body out there with another A680 up and running?
     Rabin Ezra
-- 
Rabin Ezra, Teaching Assistant                  Internet:  rabin@dcs.qmw.ac.uk
Dept of Computer Science,                       UUCP:  rabin@qmw-dcs.UUCP
Queen Mary and Westfield College,               JANET: rabin@uk.ac.qmw.dcs
Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, G.B.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mips
From: werner@tron.bwi.wec.com (Alfred Werner)
Subject: Re: Whither rpc.rstatd?
Organization: Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Baltimore MD.
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 13:44:20 GMT

 I don't know if this is what you are looking for, but the rpc.statd
is in the usr package of RISCos 4.52 and in the root package as a
link , according to my bom files.

Regards,

Alfred Werner
From: rogerk@queernet.org (Roger B.A. Klorese)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mips
Subject: Re: Whither rpc.rstatd?
Date: 2 Sep 92 22:58:58 GMT
Organization: QueerNet

In article <1992Sep2.170559.7834@sobeco.com> sdesmara@sobeco.com (s.desmarais) writes:
>werner@tron.bwi.wec.com (Alfred Werner) spoke about rpc.statd
>and there is a usr/etc/rpc.statd.  Is this different than rpc.rstatd (with
>the "r")?

Yes.  rpc.statd is used in the NFS-locking protocol.
-- 
ROGER B.A. KLORESE                                              +1 415 ALL-ARFF
rogerk@unpc.QueerNet.ORG                 {ames,decwrl,pyramid}!mips!unpc!rogerk
"Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from."
                                                                   -- J. Foster
From: radha@yrloc.ipsa.reuter.COM (radha)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mips
Subject: adding a mips RC3240 as a slave server to cluster of suns and RS6000s
Date: 1 Sep 92 19:21:36 GMT
Reply-To: radhak@ipsalab.ipsa.reuter.COM (radha krishnan)
Organization: I P Sharp Associates, Toronto


We recently got mips RC3240 RISComputer and i want to add this to our existing
network containing suns and RS6000 as a slave server. My questions: 

1. does mips rc3240 running RISC/os (UMIPS) supports and accepts NIS/YP?
2. do any of you have experience doing this?

There is no documentations as to this available to me. If you could point
to me where i could get these info would be appreciated.


.. radha
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mips
From: rogerk@queernet.org (Roger B.A. Klorese)
Subject: Re: where is settimeofday()
Organization: QueerNet
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 92 04:05:03 GMT

In article <6022@taurus.cs.nps.navy.mil> skip@taygeta.oc.nps.navy.mil (Skip Carter) writes:
>
>	I have a program that must be compiled under the sysv systype
>	on a MIPS 3230 running RiscOS 4.52.  But the linker can't
>	seem to find two BSD functions.
>
>	When compiling under systype sysv,  settimeofday() and
>	usleep() are not resolved, even when the compiler is told
>	to look in the bsd libraries.   Where are these functions ?

Well, you aren't *really* telling it to look in the "systype bsd43"
libraries...

>	My compilation line:
>
>	cc -I/usr/include/bsd -systype sysv  stime.c -lbsd
>
>	gives,
>
>	ld:
>	Undefined:
>	settimeofday
>	usleep

...because they're not in the libraries you're asking for.

You're telling it to look in the "systype sysv" BSD extension libraries.
These libraries include only the subset of BSD facilities supported in
the original UMIPS-V (Mips System V) version, before a BSD environment
was added and the name was changed to RISC/os.  These extension libraries
basically only provided networking and socket extensions.

>	but,
>
>	cc -systype bsd43 stime.c
>
>	compiles OK.

...because this is the "full BSD" environment.

However, all is not lost; you can get to all system calls from either
environment, indirectly...

>/* test settimeofday call with different environments */
>
>#include <stdio.h>
>#include <sys/time.h>

#ifdef SYSTYPE_SYSV
#include <bsd43/sys/syscall.h>
#define settimeofday(a,b) syscall(BSD43_SYS_settimeofday,a,b)
#endif
>
>void main()
>{
>    struct timeval tv;
>
>       settimeofday(&tv, NULL);
>
>       usleep( 40000 );
>
>}

Unfortunately, usleep is not emulated; see the man page for suggestions on
use of setitimer (or actually, syscall(BSD43_SYS_setitimer)) for how to
do it yourself.
-- 
ROGER B.A. KLORESE                                              +1 415 ALL-ARFF
rogerk@unpc.QueerNet.ORG                 {ames,decwrl,pyramid}!mips!unpc!rogerk
"Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from."
                                                                   -- J. Foster
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mips