This isn't a reply to any specific email that's been sent to the list on this subject more a general comment on my thoughts about the QL 'scene' as it currently stands.
My interest in the QL has recently been rekindled. Some years ago I decided that I had the money to invest in a more modern QL system - I couldn't stretch to the likes of a Q40 but did manage to buy a SGC and Aurora. Although my knowledge of the system was extremely rusty I did manage to get it up and running - installed SMSQ and some other software with the intention of developing some software. Unfortuantely, I found it extremely difficult to get information on how to do so without spending a fair amount of money. The pointer environment was (and still is) a complete mystery as far as programming is concerned. I even subscribed to QL Today but found that the articles, though good, either referred to previous articles that I didn't have or assumed a level of knowledge that I didn't know how to gain. The Aurora machine has now been sold on and has a very good new home with Neil Riley. With the recent mention of the lack of available hardware, I considered the possibility of maybe porting SMSQ to the Amiga platform. QDOS Classic is already available for the amiga and works well - though for some reason it will only work on my 68000 machine and not on the faster 68030. My thought was that at least some of the work has already been done by creating the necessary drivers etc for the Amiga hardware - these seem to have been implemented as add on 'roms' for the QDOS environment. Whether something like this would be possible I don't know - I need to download the source for SMSQ and brush up my 680x0 assembly - it seems on the face of it to be feasible though. As for developing programs for the QDOS or SMSQ - where should I start? I still have a black box QL with a gold card, I've managed to resurrect a couple of working DD floppies. I am primarily a C programmer on Unix type systems, getting and installing a working C development environment on a floppy based system probably isn't practical. I don't have available money to invest in hardware or any commercial emulators - a lack of funds was one of the reasons that the Aurora system was sold in the first place. It's also true to be said that any new software development should really be done on a system that can handle the best the QL has to offer, that means a fast CPU and high colour drivers. My black box QL can hardly be said to fall into that category! :-) [Incidentally Neil, if you're reading this, no I don't for one moment regret selling the Aurora to you!] So, the upshot of all this (and sorry for rambling on) is that although I am willing to put some time into developing software for the QL, it seems that I either have to spend a not insubstantial amount of money on either hardware (which isn't necessarily available) or something like QPC. The alternative is to try and port SMSQ to a hardware platform that I already have access to (the Amiga). Although I would love to do this and indeed will have a look to see if I can manage it I suspect that it's a task that is way beyond my capabilities. I think we have to face the fact that the QL is a dying breed - we're not going to get any new hardware due to costs, and new software is only going to be developed by those already developing software. Partly because of the cost of getting a 'modern' QL system and partly because learning how to program such a system seems to be very, very difficult due to a lack of tutorials or available documentation. Once again sorry for the rambling email - I just thought I'd throw in my 2p to an interesting discussion! Phil _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
