Re: [NTLK] Native installer for NCU and OS X Update

From: James Wages (james_at_kiramek.com)
Date: Sat Nov 19 2005 - 00:45:24 PST


On 11/19/05 4:45 AM, Martin Joseph <martyNT_at_barknaturalpet.com> wrote:
> The "Get busy" or "do something" that you refer to is intended to spur
> you on to looking into the DCL source and setting up a development
> system of you own if you don't have one already. Apparently you are a
> programmer, so I don't know why you refuse to admit that you can do
> this, and we are all waiting on you ;~)

Said like a true non-programmer!

Martin, if I speak Japanese to you, will you understand it? Probably not.
But you do speak "a language," right? You do speak English natively just as
I do. So even though we both speak "languages" you don't speak one of the
languages that I know, hence you and I can in no way communicate or "get
busy" in the Japanese language. They same applies to programming software.

I know Microchip assembly language. I program very simplistic stuff on an
8-bit MCU that has all the RAM built-in to the chip itself. An 8-bit MCU is
nothing compared to a 32-bit CPU which accesses RAM and DISK external to the
CPU. Ask any Newton programmer here how similar that is to what they
program in now, and they will tell you its a huge difference.

One difference I can point out for you is that many programmers use C or
some high-level language. Another is that almost all instructions on
Microchip PICs execute in 1 instruction cycle (except for branches), unlike
most CPUs. What this means is that Microchip PICs are darn easy to program.
I could go on about the differences, but I will spare you.

Suffice it to say, if you read my previous post again, I made this point
already. If I could program in the language required to get the job done, I
would try to work with other programmers to "get busy." But more than just
learning the programming language, one must know how to talk to a handheld
and how to talk to a Mac. So even if I spent the next 6 months learning an
appropriate language, I would need at least another year to become savvy at
getting code to work well in a Macintosh programming environment. And even
then, I wonder if I could be "efficient" in doing my programming part.

This may be difficult or even impossible for non-programmers to understand,
but that's the way it is. Laurent nailed the point down nicely when he said
this project is "not for the faint of the heart..." This means that even
someone knowledgeable in programming Mac<->Newton interfaces would be
concerned about their ability to complete such a task alone.

I dislike making excuses for myself, but I needed to clarify lest anyone
else think I have the ability right now to complete the job and I am simply
a lazy bum wanting to crack the whip on others. That's not the case. I
simply want to keep this topic alive so folks like "CC" can coordinate with
veterans like Laurent or Paul or other of our senior programmers on this
list to consider what really would be involved to begin such a project. But

Just as Laurent pointed out today, many like Escale, so there is a strong
inclination to say "why waste time on reinventing the wheel?" To that, I
suppose the only answer is, "Because Escale isn't a very good wheel right
now."

Thanks,

James Wages

-- 
This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries
Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/


This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 19 2005 - 09:30:04 PST