Catalina user poll
RossH
Posts: 5,520
Hi everyone,
This question came up in another context, so I thought I'd try holding a poll (I'm not even sure how to do this, but there's a "post a poll" option which I will try and use!).
The latest version of Catalina is rapidly approaching 250 downloads (which is gratifying), with the following breakdown:
Win32 ~ 200
Linux ~ 40
This accords pretty well with my experience of previous releases i.e. about 20% of Catalina users use Linux.
However, since these are the only distributions I offer, I have no way of knowing how many Mac OSX users there might be out there interested in Catalina. I know that Catalina can be built for OSX from the Linux sources, but I don't know if (for example) all the scripts work correctly, or the Code::Blocks installation instructions work properly.
In the interests of finding out whether it is worth putting out a third distribution (specifically for OSX), then if you are an OSX user can you please respond to this thread with the following information:
1. Have you successfully compiled Catalina from source for use under OSX? If not, what went wrong?
2. If an OSX binary distribution were available, would you use that instead?
3. If there is enough interest, would you be willing to volunteer to "package" an OSX distribution of Catalina every time a new release is required?
Thanks,
Ross.
EDIT: Well, the "add a poll to this post" option didn't seem to work, so we'll just have to do it manually!
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
This question came up in another context, so I thought I'd try holding a poll (I'm not even sure how to do this, but there's a "post a poll" option which I will try and use!).
The latest version of Catalina is rapidly approaching 250 downloads (which is gratifying), with the following breakdown:
Win32 ~ 200
Linux ~ 40
This accords pretty well with my experience of previous releases i.e. about 20% of Catalina users use Linux.
However, since these are the only distributions I offer, I have no way of knowing how many Mac OSX users there might be out there interested in Catalina. I know that Catalina can be built for OSX from the Linux sources, but I don't know if (for example) all the scripts work correctly, or the Code::Blocks installation instructions work properly.
In the interests of finding out whether it is worth putting out a third distribution (specifically for OSX), then if you are an OSX user can you please respond to this thread with the following information:
1. Have you successfully compiled Catalina from source for use under OSX? If not, what went wrong?
2. If an OSX binary distribution were available, would you use that instead?
3. If there is enough interest, would you be willing to volunteer to "package" an OSX distribution of Catalina every time a new release is required?
Thanks,
Ross.
EDIT: Well, the "add a poll to this post" option didn't seem to work, so we'll just have to do it manually!
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
Comments
Actually I haven't even followed anything about it and don't even know what it does. (I'm originally from Southern CA, and know only about Catalina Island. Sorry for the way-off-subject humor.) Just saw your last line about it being a C compiler. Not sure if I want to get into C right now.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Harley Shanko
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Links to other interesting threads:
· Home of the MultiBladeProps: TriBlade,·RamBlade,·SixBlade, website
· Single Board Computer:·3 Propeller ICs·and a·TriBladeProp board (ZiCog Z80 Emulator)
· Prop Tools under Development or Completed (Index)
· Emulators: CPUs Z80 etc; Micros Altair etc;· Terminals·VT100 etc; (Index) ZiCog (Z80) , MoCog (6809)·
· Prop OS: SphinxOS·, PropDos , PropCmd··· Search the Propeller forums·(uses advanced Google search)
My cruising website is: ·www.bluemagic.biz·· MultiBlade Props: www.cluso.bluemagic.biz
Thanks for responding. I don't really expect there will be more than a few active Catalina OSX users.
@Cluso,
Yes - the stats shows Linux being disproportionately represented amongst Catalina users. May also be true more generally of all Propeller users - I don't know. It may be interesting to poll that as well.
The conventional wisdom of desktop OSs is supposedly that around 90-95% use Windoze, 5-9% use OSX and 1-2% use Linux (e.g. here) - although I suspect this is actually complete rubbish. It's probably more representative of the fact that both Windoze and Apple sponsor such polling because they are desperate to smother Linux, whereas Linux users simply don't care
I'll be interested to see the proportion of OSX users in this area.
Ross.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Links to other interesting threads:
· Home of the MultiBladeProps: TriBlade,·RamBlade,·SixBlade, website
· Single Board Computer:·3 Propeller ICs·and a·TriBladeProp board (ZiCog Z80 Emulator)
· Prop Tools under Development or Completed (Index)
· Emulators: CPUs Z80 etc; Micros Altair etc;· Terminals·VT100 etc; (Index) ZiCog (Z80) , MoCog (6809)·
· Prop OS: SphinxOS·, PropDos , PropCmd··· Search the Propeller forums·(uses advanced Google search)
My cruising website is: ·www.bluemagic.biz·· MultiBlade Props: www.cluso.bluemagic.biz
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
· Propeller Object Exchange (last Publications / Updates)
Good point - thanks. That may bump the Linux numbers up slightly. But hey - who's counting?
Ross.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
In the morning my phone alarm wakes me up. It's Linux/Android.
I check the forums over breakfast on my Linux/Debian machine.
On the bus ride to work I can watch an advertising screen that occasionally shows Linux kernel boot up messages after a power interruption.
Work is wall to wall Linux, on the PC's and on the product.
I can go for months without seeing a box running Windows and I did once see a Mac in an office about ten years ago.
Am I odd?
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
For me, the past is not over yet.
Well, maybe. Anyone with a tech / academic / science bent, can and will encounter a lot of Linux. The tech awareness level is high enough to make Linux notable for what it is as well as what it does.
Outside that, Linux is just another thing, competing with the usual things, just a bit odd in how it all works. Once, I was involved in a political movement to advocate OSS for the State I live in. The idea was instead of paying for proprietary code and contracts, leveraging OSS, and in-state know how was cheaper, and more potent, and a potential source of revenue, as the product could easily be sold, and or taught to others looking to lower their civic burden, while not giving up any value --potentially gaining some net value.
The committee I testified in front of was a very interesting one. Some techy types, some business types, and an academic, all holding office. Their comments have stuck with me. The techy types got it, and simply debated the business / civic / politics of it, as we would. There were pluses and minuses, and the conversation was about the solid justification for policy. Perfectly ordinary conversation. The academic and business minded types happened to be completely confused, often comparing Linux and OSS to physical products, confused about where the value comes from, and why it's not sold in the usual ways.
Today, I see Linux all around, in phones, set top devices, game systems, etc... I personally use it for general purpose computing, when it makes sense too. My kids use it, and know what it is, but their reasons have nothing to do with OSS, and everything to do with it being safe. That matters because of all their bad PC experiences. I suspect Apple sells a lot of Mac computers to these same kinds of people who really do "want it to just work", and see Linux as something kind of scary, when it's really not.
At work, most of our stuff is Windows land. But the CAD runs on the trinity these days, Mac, Windows, Linux, and life is good! I deal with all three, and do so regularly.
The actual Linux use numbers out there are higher, because the common metrics do not include phones and other goodies. However, those are actually indirect uses for the most part, as Linux isn't selected because it's Linux. Factor those out, and the numbers are still good, because many people have multiple computers, and the Linux numbers among younger people, and tech / science / academic types gets lost in the windows noise, up to and including OSes sold, but not used.
@Ross: I would love to do some Prop related things on Mac OS. It's in the cards someday, but not right now. Linux / Windows is my personal environment. Mac is strictly work related at this time, though I do find the machines awfully nice! With a tweak here and there, they remind me a lot of the SGI machines. [noparse]:)[/noparse] One thing we found about Mac is that the actual demand hs hard to gauge without putting something out there. For years the case for CAD on Mac, for example, was made. Now that we have it (and I'm talking about high end, expensive stuff), we are finding that demand to be less than suggested, but growing nicely, and consistent, in that those that do buy in, really are wanting to make it all work, because that's the Apple value. They are different from PC users in that way, willing to put up with less, but happy to pay for that as well. I sure would like to see your stuff on Mac, just because I will go there sometime in the future, but not today.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Propeller Wiki: Share the coolness!
8x8 color 80 Column NTSC Text Object
Wondering how to set tile colors in the graphics_demo.spin?
Safety Tip: Life is as good as YOU think it is!
Yes, you are odd ... Oh, you mean about using Linux? No, many of these surveys reluctantly acknowledge - often somewhere in the fine print - that Linux has pretty near universal penetration in some small, unimportant and completely niche market segments.
You know, unimportant places like academia and engineering. Also back end servers and such like. So of course they exclude those.
Ross.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
I would also like to see Catalina on OSX. But since I can't afford to take out a second mortgage on my house in order to actually buy a Mac, I'm hoping that someone who already has one will volunteer to package and test it - provided of course that there is sufficient demand.
Ross.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
Is there anything in there that is likely to be an issue with endianness ? (bstc has an issue with building the binary image on PPC macs and requires byte swapping)
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
"I mean, if I went around sayin' I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me they'd put me away!"
Anyway I'm using Windows (mainly at work, may programs I use are win only), and Linux (on the eeePC is great). I program the Propeller with both OS systems, using Dropbox and BradC's BST.
When I used to work with Mac at university I had a special way to crash it consistently...
Massimo
"...because that's the Apple value. They are different from PC users in that way, willing to put up with less, but happy to pay for that as well."
This is a most strange statement. I get it as: the Apple value is that you pay more and get less. And some how you are still smiling.
Apparently I'm not as odd as those grinning Mac users[noparse]:)[/noparse]
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
For me, the past is not over yet.
My Mac mini was half the price of any other comparable PC that had the following characteristics :
- Low noise
- Small
- DVI output
Nothing else compared. Why would I complain about the value?
My next machine will be a 27" iMac. Again, it's smaller, quieter and has a better resolution than any of its competitors. What's the problem?
I don't buy into the hype. I don't run OSX unless I'm testing for bst, and I compare machines like a Scotsman with *very* short pockets. Overall, Apple wins quite often.
You can bend the figures any way you like I guess, but I don't mind paying to get what I want.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
"I mean, if I went around sayin' I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me they'd put me away!"
Still, I am odd. I have never actually bought a TV, although they manage to sneak into the house somehow. The VCR came and went without me ever feeling the urge to get one. Never had a microwave. Never bought a PC or a laptop, they just come with the job.
Looks like the big box PC as we have known it will go obsolete without me ever shelling out cash for one.
Did I mention that my grandfather was a Glaswegian? [noparse]:)[/noparse]
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
For me, the past is not over yet.
Thanks, although at this point it looks like there may be no need for it just yet (no OSX Catalina users!). I can't think of anywhere in Catalina itself where there would be 'endian' issues (but then if I could I would have fixed them by now!). Most of the low level byte management (e.g. the generation of binaries) is handled by HomeSpun, which on OSX would have to run under Mono (same as it does under Linux). If this has problems then I'd have to ask mpark to fix them.
There may be some minor issues with Payload and BlackBox, but these would not be too difficult to fix.
Maybe we should instead consider a wider collaboration - i.e. moving Catalina to bst? We talked about this possibility briefly a couple of months ago, but it is more work than I'm willing to take on at this stage. I was intending to defer further consideration of this until the Prop II gets a bit closer, since it probably makes sense to do it all at once.
Ross.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Catalina - a FREE C compiler for the Propeller - see Catalina
The only Mac I bought was one of the first 128K machines. All the rest were supplied free by Apple in the 80's as we designed products for Apple. I love the Mac's, even though the first Mac's needed more memory, which was cheap if you did it yourself.
Macs have always been smaller and more reliable than the horrid PC. They do not suffer from viruses (as much anyway) as the pc. Speed has always been a subjective question as the BIOS was handcrafted in asm and was huge compared to the pc. Of course, the mac had the advantage of knowing what peripherals could be added, and the opposing disadvantage that it could not use all those peripherals that could be added to the pc.
Originally of course they used a superior 68000 than the pcs 8086. Then the PPC v '86. Unfortunately, but realistically, they now use the same cpus as the pc and can run windoze for those apps that require it.
Cost nowadays is from what I think, not really an issue. The mini is a great little box. Why we still suffer from those antiquated large boxes full of air that doesnt allow proper airflow dynamics I will never know.
Now, after all that, I have not used a Mac since the end of the 80s. Why? Well originally the pcs were cheaper and the programs I wanted to run are not available on the Mac. In the latter 90s I was writing commercial VB programs so I guess it was not surprising that the Mac did not support VB.
In the 2000s I required navigation software which again was not on the Mac. In this time period I would have bought a Mac in preference as the cost differential was small and the size and quality was more important and speed was not an issue. I ended up building a·small·ITX pc for my boat.
I now use laptops exclusively, although I look forward to owning an iPad with some of the new apps that will appear, soon I hope. I honestly believe that iPad versions (and competitors) will ultimately kill a lot of the pc/windoze sales. I believe we are in the process of another dynamic shift back to centralised processing. History has shown this goes in circles. The internet and wifi, together with much more powerful pcs in the backroom, will fuel this shift. Why would you require windoze... bugs, power hungry, viruses, and increasing costs for windoze and office when you can use a lower powered iPad or equivalent which is cheaper and extremely portable.
As I said above, I do not use a Mac, yet I am a Mac advocate. I am not a *nix advocate as it is still for technical users and I cannot be bothered. Windoze, with all its problems, is just easier... and Mac is a·better, more advanced, stable windoze. Shame Apple never released its OS seperately!
Now, how can we find a niche for the prop to fit into the iPad equation?
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Links to other interesting threads:
· Home of the MultiBladeProps: TriBlade,·RamBlade,·SixBlade, website
· Single Board Computer:·3 Propeller ICs·and a·TriBladeProp board (ZiCog Z80 Emulator)
· Prop Tools under Development or Completed (Index)
· Emulators: CPUs Z80 etc; Micros Altair etc;· Terminals·VT100 etc; (Index) ZiCog (Z80) , MoCog (6809)·
· Prop OS: SphinxOS·, PropDos , PropCmd··· Search the Propeller forums·(uses advanced Google search)
My cruising website is: ·www.bluemagic.biz·· MultiBlade Props: www.cluso.bluemagic.biz
I notice your "Prop as iPad" thread seems to have been lost. And I agree with whoever it was who replied there that a Prop and probably a Prop II is not suited to that task and cannot compete on price.
Recently they have started selling tablets from "A-Link" here for 190 Euro. Android based devices with 7 inch touch screens complete with WIFI. I believe they are even cheaper in the rest of the world.
BUT here is the thing, This class of device comes with USB host out of the box. A serial connection to a Prop board would be a doddle. All of a sudden the world is going to be full of really cheap user interfaces for our Prop projects:) Having just shelled out for an expensive Android phone to pursue the "Android android" idea, I find there is a much cheaper, easier alternative.
Forget the iPad, it's just an expensive and closed example of an idea whose time has come.
There are people, who have either talent, or who have made computing skill investments. Generally, they are able to use the machine easily, and see software, user interfaces and such as trade-offs, and value raw capability and flexibility over hardware ergonomics. It might be arcane, or laborious, but capable, and that's value. A engineer, or multi-media artist would be very good examples of these kinds of people.
Other people, generally see computers as tools, and the "geek" stuff related to computers is meta-knowledge to them, and as such, is a distraction, a value loss, given their focus is something else.
A attorney, or writer, or graphic artist would be good examples of these kinds of people.
There is a third type, who focus on the computing itself, maybe as part of another discipline, as we see here, or they are sys-admins, or some blend of both.
Let's call them type A, B, C
Type A can value a Mac, based on the holistic approach, but it's not all that common. They are interested in features * performance / dollars, period.
Type B, loves Mac computers, "because they just work". Type B will apply, what I call the $100 rule. If you mess with it for an hour, that's $100. Given that value, and their personal time billing often exceeds that rate, the value in the Mac is very easily found. Apple builds value by investing in the user interface, holistic design where they know what is in the field and can offer software updates and environments that are integrated, and very functional and consistent. Nothing that can't be done on Linux, or a PC, but it takes meta-work to get there, which is seen as a cost. Generally, investments made to present the tech in a usable way are highly valued, because that time required to use the tech is seen as an opportunity cost. Why futz with computers, when one could be litigating, for example?
Type C, along with A, are the ones I deal with most of the time. Type C, generally appreciate Macs because they enjoy the holistic design and sexy hardware. They also enjoy Linux, more often than not, because they are not only capable of advanced computing, but either their job (academic, rocket scientist, researcher) requires it, or they enjoy it for the sake of computing in general. (developer, sys-admin)
I find the Apple approach very interesting. As a user, I like the overall feel and sexy hardware, but I can and do enjoy computers, and would probably rather just build my own bad *** Linux, my way, that does all the specifically cool stuff I want to do. As a professional, Linux can be a net loss because of the $100 rule. Windows more often than not, just is. Depends on what the project goals are, and how time is valued.
In the mid to late 90's, at the peak of SGI, they approached computing the exact same way Apple does now. Many people would pay a nice premium for the holistically designed environment, and graphical, multi-media power. A Sun or HP, sometimes were more capable, or faster, but they did not exhibit those value characteristics. Margins on those machines were less because of it too.
Today, Apple is headed right down the same road. The beauty of their approach is using open code, and mostly open hardware design, so they actually keep very good margins, several times everybody else, while not having to price so high as to limit their growth. SGI was custom in many ways, and expensive as hell, which killed them off as the mass market PC dropped in cost, due to huge economies of scale.
During that time, many analysts claimed Apple would die, because of their cost difference and margin. They also based that off of share, assuming that 5 percent was not enough to build a viable business. Well, let's just say today they are very, very quiet, and a lot of product design companies are looking that successful equation over closely. Most will miss the core value Apple builds on, and they will fail.
I find it odd, being so ancient, that computers ever became "fashion statements". But that's what it is. Where "fashion" nowadays is more to do with logos than any other stylistic merit. Unless you are oozing cool by the ton yourself, and not many people do, you cannot turn up at a meeting with a clunky great old Compaq laptop. You have to have that logo so that people instantly recognize you are "credible", even if the machine never gets used that day.
How many times have we heard it said the Parallax should hide the Propeller Beanie logo when trying to push the Prop into "serious" markets?
Sorry, I gotta post this. I just had a realization! (my apologies, slap me, if you need to Ross)
But that's exactly it! The intrinsic work is more than the components, features offered, and such.
How that is realized has real, material value. That's the bit that Apple gets and a whole lot of people don't. Building something smart --as in well realized with a cohesive vision costs more, but the value that results can demand a higher margin, when presented to those people who understand that value proposition. That's been demonstrated over time, and is not just an Apple thing.
About 10 percent of us get that, and will gladly pay the higher margins. That's true in the home computing space at least. The metric varies by niche, I am sure.
What we really need to do, propeller wise, is somehow convey the same thing. You know the Prop exhibits many of the same exact characteristics, in the micro-controller context. It's holistically designed (Chip), and that has a value above and beyond similar chips, with similar capability, at a lower price. We hear it all the time.
"...but you can do it on [x] for two dollars!", or some variation on that, and they are right!
However, what you can't do for a coupla bucks, is most all of the damn cool stuff we do here, at the accessibility level seen here. That's real value, as opposed to the minimum COST, which is often cited as the only measure of value --or "intrinsic" as you put it. The two are different things, when presented properly. (which Apple is absolutely one of the very best there ever was at doing that)
Re: Fashion.
It's more than that on an Apple computer. I use all three OSes regularly. The holistic design present on the Apple platform offers considerable time savings on a number of fronts. Depending on the kind of computer user one is, those time savings could be considerable, and given the $100 rule, easily higher than the margin paid for the machine.
On one hand, removing the beanie says "serious". On the other, perhaps "serious" is too often associated with the extreme feature / dollar equation, which does not factor things like accessability, usability, etc... into the overall value statement.
Maybe Chip should put his signature on them instead
No worries about taking this thread off topic. I've got the answer I needed, which is that (at this stage) there is no need for a separate Catalina distribution for OSX. Saves me (or someone else) doing a bunch of work for nothing.
Now carry on ...
Ross.
Hey, there is one more related thing to say. I think the alignment of OS X users to Propeller might be fairly high, given the Parallels between the two. That's not to say there will be a ton of users. There isn't, and there won't be. The cost and "intrinsic" value bit Heater posted is why.
(we like it cheap in micro land, for obvious reasons)
However, if there are users, they are the most likely paying users there are. Of all the computer user types, the ones that see the value in the Mac, also assign software that's well presented a high enough value to pay for, which is not the norm. Mac users pay for more software, over all.
For one last perspective, when Open Office was only available under the X window system, the typical Mac user, who wasn't experienced in UNIX or a academic / science type familiar with X, would respond with, "Of course it's free. Just look at the thing!" The feature / dollar types generally love OO, because it's got a very high use value, for comparison.
I am sure there is a niche somewhere in amongs the iPad arena. The prop could become a cheap alternative using existing keyboard and TV/VGA - this is the saving - a tiny board with connections to existing screen/keyboards. No battery as this is not where this owuld be aimed. A cheap entry if you like to this sort of thing.
Perceived value is spot-on. The Prop can do amazing things, all with the one chip. Here is where we need to focus. Not on xyz chip can do this bit cheaper and abc chip can do something else cheaper - the prop can do both and that makes it cheaper in the long run because of its flexibility.
So I still think there is a niche in the iPad arena. Just have to find it. And it would be better with Prop 1.5 or Prop II, but we have Prop 1 now, so lets use it, at least for now.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that Apple products are in anyway inferior. I'm sure they are pretty good. And as you point out there is more to the product than just the hardware. Having a close coupled and carefully controlled system all the way from the hardware through the boot loader/BIOS, though the kernel and OS all the way up to the appstore or iTunes certainly adds value when it all "just works".
That is all "real stuff" that adds value. What I was hinting at is the other "not real stuff" that makes people want to pay for things.
Used to be that girls would want Gucci handbags and guys would want Gucci shoes. (Perhaps they still do). Well seems to me that girls could carry their stuff around in any old one dollar bag just as effectively. Guys could get some perfectly comfortable and functional boots for a tenth the price.
Well that does not happen. Humans are very social animals. They are acutely aware of the fact that others are watching them all the time. Sizing them up and judging them. So image is everything. Presentation is important. Being "in" with the "in" crown is a primary concern. If there was no one else around to see why would one bother with all that junk?
So it goes with many products, cars, watches, houses etc etc. Apple knows how to play that game. I, and apparently the rest of the computer world, never imagined that a computer would become a fashion accessory. Steve Jobs did. Brilliant.
http://www.gucci.com/uk/index2.asp
Also, Heater, how come you are a junior member.
Note that "Heater." is not "heater", there is a full stop at the end.
Thing is:
1) The forum changed over.
2) The old forum still had an old defunked e-mail address.
3) The new forum now has a defunked email address for "heater"
4) Therefore I could not set my password for the new forum and could not log in.
5) I contacted parallax about this with no reply yet.
6) Had to create a new Heater. just so I could moan about stuff:)
I was pondering about registering again. Kerin D'Comunity almost popped up as a junior member.
It just does't seem right that I get credited as an exprienced veteran, and you do not.
I particually liked the option of declaring my birth date a Jan 01 1800, if only I was that young.
Totally. Jobs knows that game very well, and has been "absolutely fabulous" at making it work for Apple.
Some of that is a net loss too. They brought me one of those new iMac wide display machines for software testing. (Our high end CAD runs on Mac, under X + Motif) After some clean up, and desktop customization, it seriously reminds me of the SGI machines. Love working on it, but... It's a closed can! There are a few ports, but it's deffo not user serviceable all that easy, and it has custom, external display connectors (read profit items), and some other little annoyances that detract from what is otherwise a great computer.
Sure looks perty though.
I still laugh at how it's made software wise. There are so many little GUI things to know. I just made a nice, simple, white on dark blue terminal, good quality non-proportional font (Lucida, I think), and spend most of my time there, or in the application. Our resident Mac advocate keeps telling me, "...but, you do it THIS way". A script or two later, with the machine doing a whole lot of things hands off, and they walk away in wonder.
Probably I've forgotten most of the UNIX than I used to know. Funny thing is that bit I remember is seriously bad ***
What do you guys think of "Trebuchet"? (above) It's one of my very favorite reading fonts...