OSLib 6.11 Released

[Chris Rutter]

On Mon, 25 Sep 2000, David J.Ruck wrote:

> Projects developed in this way include my latest, DiscKnight (E & E+ format
> FileCore disc fixer). They are programs are linked with the standard OSLib on
> RISC OS, but on other platforms I've used the OSLib headers with a limited
> port of the functionality I need in C. In the case of DiscKnight this was
> only the osfile/osfind/osgbgp calls and a couple of odds and ends.

Ah, right, that wasn't clear.  If you've got limited portability to your
other platform, then, yes, clearly you can do a certain proportion of
debugging under it.

> > There is Nick Burrett's work on getting gcc 2.95.x to run as a RISC OS
> > cross-compiler on POSIX platforms, but I don't see the huge benefit in
> > that over the native port for the majority of applications.
> 
> Think of ARM's tools which are now available of every platform except RISC
> OS.

True -- and horrendously expensive.

> All three reasons:-
> 
> 1) no decent debugger
> 2) no portable machine
> 3) no port of the best compiler

Well, if it's of any interest, I am making an attempt to mollify the
first and second of these points with ROPE -- there's every reasonable
chance that gdb will run without too much work under RISC OS.

> really do show the sorry state of the RISC OS market, makes me wonder why I
> continue to bother, it would be so much easier to develop for Linux. Therefor
> anything the OSLib maintainers can do to make my life easier, would not only
> be appreciated, but also might keep me developing for this platform.

Erm, I don't know why you bother, to be honest.  Most people gave up
a few years ago. :-)

Acorn development was comparitively `hot' in about '95 -- the gluttonous
Toolbox, RISC OS 3.5, and the genuinely innovative RiscPC; but by that
point cheap PC hardware had overtaken Acorn in terms of horsepower and
functionality -- something that ARM has in a way capitalised on, by
regressing to the embedded market.  Still, shame.  I must admit, though,
I didn't notice you doing much on RISC OS from 87--98 or so.  Why arrive
so late? :-)

c.