From: Jim Witte (jswitte_at_bloomington.in.us)
Date: Fri Sep 10 2004 - 18:18:52 PDT
> a) Messagepad emulator that can run the NewtonOS from the ROM.
> + Paul and Nicolas are working on this
> - Licensing problems. I guess you have to own a Messagepad to get the
> NewtonOS legally.
> - Not so easy to extend NewtonOS?
Modify the code. I'm not a lawyer (and we need one to answer this
question), but is there a legal difference between emulating an
*unmodified* copy of the ROM and a *modified* copy? I don't count the
p-classes that Paul and Nicolas wrote to run the OS on the 'Einstein
platform' - just modifying parts of the code that they emulate - like
the FClicker() function perhaps, or something in the SoundServer class
that controls how stuff quickly bits are pushed to the PSoundDriver,
which I think would be one way to make sounds play at normal speed on
accelerated Newts, though I'm sure there are easier ways, like perhaps
just rewriting PSoundDriver itself.
> b) A NewtonOS clone from scratch (with binary compatibility)
> - Much more work
Quite true - GNUton tried this and got nowhere (well, very
little-where), mostly for lack of developers. And to do it right,
you'd have to emulate no only the NS interpreter (the most obvious
part), but the (logical) store format, and (physical) card-storage
format - if you want to be able to read Newton-formated cards and
Newton-generated soups. And through out a lot of the custom part-C++
apps that rely on pieces of the NOS being there - like Fractor,
although I'm not sure how big a problem this really is. And you have
packages that use the built-in DES encryption algorithm. Is it a
standard DES algorithm? The one used by the Docker isn't (see DCL
programmer's guide).
> + Easier to extend
Maybe. P-classes aren't that hard to write, if the interfaces are
known (of course, most of the interfaces aren't known as to what the
functions and parameters actually *do* are *are*) As for extending the
kernel itself, perhaps it would be easier..
Another minus here is no Rosetta and no Paragraph..
Jim
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