A89: Make love, not shell wars...
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A89: Make love, not shell wars...
As we're all looking forward to the official, TI release of the TI-89 assembly
information (some of us with less patience than others ;), it has been brought
up several times the the 89 and 92+ will allow the possibility of a replacement
ROM written by users - an OS rather than a shell.
I, of course, have been just as eager to start as everyone else, but, not having
my 89 yet, I'm forced to just think about these things. I was reading a recent
article on ticalc when I realized that everyone wants to make a new ROM. (well,
maybe not _everyone_, but a lot of people!) This is very worrying - a
replacement ROM is likely going to be a larger project than anyone here has
taken on before (ZShell comes close, I bet), and all I see in store is an
endless stream of low-quality hacked ROMs because none of us have the time or
knowledge on our hands to get it right. It will be the worst 'Shell War' we've
ever seen because there likely isn't going to be many good ones.
It seems to me that in order to make a _real_ replacement ROM, we must 'join
forces', so to speak. We need to organize a team of 10-15 68k programmers to
tackle the project systematically and effectively. Perhaps a mailing list
dedicated to the development of ROMs, and the sharing of information about the
hardware and the existing ROM.
I think it is important that an effort be organized soon, before we all get too
caught up in our own projects, programs, shells, and even never-to-be-finished
ROMs to care. Those who know 68k programming and those with too much time on
their hands (and especially those in _both_ categories) _need_ to have a forum
to exchange the knowledge and ideas that will be required to take full advantage
of Flash ROM technology.
Thank you for your time, and remember the shell wars _you_'ve seen. Did they
ultimately prove who was best, or did they only prove who has the least to do?
--
Dark Ryder
ICQ#: 8189903
E-Mail: DarkRyder@cyberdude.com
Happiness is inversely proportional to how much you want to upgrade your
computer.