> > Does this fall into the parameters of what you were looking for > > Geoff - the possibility of paying someone to extend the SDUMP system. > > Of course, a small(ish) job, but one that could be incoporated into a lot of > programs. Perhaps we should start thinking of what sort of routines we would > like if someone were to write a new DIY toolkit. Umm, I don't think sdump_rext itself could (or should) be incorporated into software, for one thing programs would always be stuck with the version built in even if copyright etc allowed it. But if an enhanced version were available, whether freely or sold as an upgrade file, I'm sure many authors like myself would venture more into producing graphics programs if the screen dumps were there rather than having to write our own - screen dump writing effort could then be concentrated into specialist efforts such as minority printers, one could only expect sdump to support HP and Canon printers over and above the existing selection I'd have thought.
> Another possibility would be to pay someone to update EasyPtr. I doubt this, there's already been correspondence on this and I think the view might be that it would be too difficult for anyone other than the original author to update, plus TurboPTR is both available, up to date and supported and now has a degree of possibility of conversionof Easyptr files. > This gives me yet another idea. What about Quanta trying to obtain the > rights of some old software that is still extensively used? The two that > spring to mind are QLiberator and Text87. Anyone with suggestions for other > programs? > > People often complain that QLiberator is not being updated. Just think if > Quanta could buy the rights and then find someone to do what George Gwilt > has managed with Turbo. > > Text87 is even more interesting. There is still the incompatibilty with the > Q60. Also no one seems to know anything about Text87 file formatting. If we > did, the RTF/HTM filters could become quite sophisticated. Spell checking > could be inproved and, dare I say it, Just Words! writing tools > incorporated. Would it be possible to make the program more user friendly > and put it in a nice PE jacket? I think if QLiberator and Text87 were achievable, I suspect Roy Wood and/or Jochen Merz would have secured them by now. > We cannot expect 6 members of the Quanta committee to come up with ideas, if > 300 members and many more non-members cannot! Exactly! There are plenty of "lurkers" on this list too, so let's see what we can come up with, would be great to hear from members on this list who don't write that often! -- Dilwyn Jones
