Duncan writes: <> While this discussion has been had here numerous times before, obviously, it is still worth having. However, you say
> Without hardware development QL computing will not survive much longer > except for retro enthusiasts. The QL was never only about hardware for quite a number of enthusiasts, and therefore it is still going strong in its emulated form. If you want the best QL platform money can buy, get QPC2 and stick it in your PC. > Clearly the cost of upgrading is important to many current users as the Qx0 > series has not been taken up generally with the majority of hardware users > running system designed in the 1980s or early 1990s. As a result development > of > the Qx0 series seems to have stopped as well, presumably the market is too > small to make it worthwhile developing add ons for the Qx0 and then there is > the SMSQ/E licence issue there as well. Wot SMSQ/E license issue? The Qx0 comes with a version of Qdos included. You could download a copy of the latest SMSQ/E sources and use Qdos to assemble your very own version of SMSQ/E. The Registrar has gone to a lot of trouble to make this quite painless, and best of all, it is freeee. If you want to contribute to SMSQ/E developments or to update facilities or fix bugs, there is a straightforward way to set about it. Finally, if youre not up to either, you can buy a pre-compiled version for your platform for a small fee from an official reseller, who will also offer you support. In other words, the "license issue" is a misnomer. The issue, if there is any, lies elsewhere and had better not be discussed ;o) > If someone is thinking about developing the hardware further, recognising > price constraints and the diverse needs of the community would it be possible > to > consider a modular process of upgrades. If it were possible for example: <> A modular approach is sensible. However, the second major module of the Aurora project, the mythical Goldfire, is still outstanding. That is the project that is furthest advanced. If it cannot be made to succeed what chance does any other project have? > As a final thought Quanta could stimulate this by making a prize (£XXXXs > X-prize) for the first team to say design and make a prototype processor > upgrade > add on board or USB driver or whatever, Id vote for Quanta to fund hardware developments, that would be good for the general ambience, even though Im unlikely to buy another piece of QL hardware kit myself. Per _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
