NetNews Offline 2/NetNews Offline Volume 2.iso/news/comp/sys/amiga/programmer/2342

Text File | 1996-08-05 | 3.5 KB | 92 lines

Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.programmer
Path: techfak.uni-bielefeld.de!isthesin
From: [e-mail] (Stephan Thesing)
Subject: Re: Demo/game to OS frien
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail] (Stephan Thesing)
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 1996 10:47:22 GMT
References: <4dtbl0$[e-mail]> <4dtgil$[e-mail]> <4e382s$54t$[e-mail]> <4e3imr$[e-mail]> <jdm.822861553@thetics>
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Organization: Universitaet Bielefeld, Technische Fakultaet.
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In article <jdm.822861553@thetics>, [e-mail] (Jesse) writes:
|> [e-mail] (Michael van Elst) writes:
|>
|> >Well, maybe your logic is weaker... but it is clear that without the OS
|> >there is
|>
|> >no HD access.
|> >no support for systems with graphics cards.
|> >no multitasking.
|> >no return to the OS besides rebooting.
|>
|> >Any other claim is _definitely_ wrong.
|>
|> Definitely wrong?  What if you use the OS (ooo!) to shut it down and use your
|> own preemptive multitasking kernel (which has lower overhead and is more suited
|> for the task than exec), restoring the system when your program is finished?

Will this kernel run on any Amiga? Even the new ones?
I don't think so.


|>
|> That covers two of those "deficiencies" easily.  Nothing is definite.
|>
|> By your logic, without the OS there is
|>
|> no video.
|> no audio.
|> no floppy drive access.
|> no input from any sources.
|>

This is true:-) Without the OS there is none of these that will run on
any machine.
You can program your own routines for these, true. But these are likely to
run only on your machine. If this is what you intend, than everything is fine.
But as soon as you plan to have your code run on any Amiga, you loose.
The ONLY warranty that your code is compatible with all current and future
Amigas is to use the OS.


|> Of course there is.  You just have to write your own code to handle it.  Just
|> like the four you mentioned above.  Some are considerably easier than others
|> and some are not officially sanctioned as "good" things to do, but they're
|> certainly possible.
|>
|> Anyone claiming than you can't do the above without the OS is simply naive.
|>

No this is not naive. It is just that your code is likely to break.
The key point is, whether you want to run code on your machine alone, or on
different Amigas. In the first case you can bang the hardware as you like, in
the second you can't.

|> (Not that I'd recommend using the hardware instead of the OS for hard drives
|> or graphics cards unless you're writing your own OS.)
|>
|> Frankly, I'm disgusted by the statements people have been making in this thread
|> about how there are only two types of programmers or programming that can be
|> done.
|>
|>   1. Those that are perfect programmers and are "enlightened" enough to only
|>      use the OS.
|>   2. Those that who use the hardware and are such bad programmers that the
|>      couldn't code their way out of a paper bag.
|>
|> That's _stupid_.  There are good hardware programmers and bad OS programmers.

Whether one is a good or bad programmer isn't the point.
You can't do compatible software when banging the hardware. It will break
on future machines or even different machine configurations today.


|> --
--
=             Stephan Thesing                 =
=        AG Praktische Informatik             =
=          Technische Fakult"at               =
=         Universit"at Bielefeld              =