First, let me say that I'll be briefer than Nasta in my comments.
I see the whole QL/QDOS/SMSQ/E really comes down to hardware. Software
really does not break, but eventually, hardware will. Granted my original
QL (bought in 1986) is still working, eventually it will have some sort of
hardware problem.
There are two approaches to solving this hardware problem:
1 - QDOS-native hardware (like Q40)
2 - Other hardware with emulation (like QPC or uQLx)
Approach 1 is better and more efficient, but it can be costly and hard to
implement.
Approach 2 is less efficient, but it can be cheaper and easier to do.
The future of the QL world should be in the coordination of both
approaches. I'd like to see a time when SMSQ/E will run exactly the same,
no matter the platform it's running on. I'd like to see color drivers on
the Q40, QPC, and uQLx to behave the same (same modes work the same
way). Storage on HD can differ from platform, but how they read floppies
and CD's should all be the same. Access to networking should be the
same. Sitting a user down to either one of these systems, they should not
be able to see a difference.
The approach each QL user will depend on what they like. Personally, I
like to run in a "pure" QL world and I bought a Q40. When I feel like I
have some extra cash, I might buy QPC.
I'd like to see the Q40 become the standard hardware solution for the
future. It has a lot of potential and it's already done. I'd like to see
both QPC and uQLx move closer in how the behave and move toward emulating
how the Q40 behaves. Granted uQLx depends more on QDOS than SMSQ/E, but
getting SMSQ/E to be Open Source is another rant.
We can all sit around and talk about the future and they way it should go,
but actually making it happen takes work. I commend developers of the Q40,
QPC, and uQLx. They put actions behind their words. As a great
procrastinator, I appreciate how much effort goes into taking an idea and
turning it into a reality.
I'm not trying to step on anybody's toes. If somebody else want's to
design more QL hardware, for what ever reason, I would not try to stop
them, I'm must expressing my opinion.
In an example of how not to do it, I'm spending my days playing with both
Linux and IRIX systems. Even though they are both Unix systems, I have to
translate the differences of where configuration files are ( is that
/etc/inetd.d or /etc/xinetd.d). To make matters even worse, different
Linux distributions put config files in different places. So a Linux book
written about Slackware does not translate 100% to Red Hat or Mandrake or
Suse or ..... (and don't get me started on different Fibre Channel
switches and different RAID boxes).
As I said, this is all just my opinion. I really does not matter until I
actually turn it into action.
Tim Swenson
