Via: uk.ac.aston; Fri, 12 Mar 1993 10:45:02 +0000
To: djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu
From: John Fletcher <ECM9093 AT pcmail DOT aston DOT ac DOT uk>
Date: 12 Mar 93 10:36:58 GMT
Subject: Re: thanks
Reply-To: J DOT P DOT Fletcher AT aston DOT ac DOT uk

I meant to post this to DJGPP
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------

From:       Self <PCMAIL/ECM9093>
To:         turnbull AT ecolan DOT sbs DOT ohio-state DOT edu
Subject:    Re: thanks
Reply-to:   J DOT P DOT Fletcher AT aston DOT ac DOT uk
Date:       11 Mar 93 11:06:56

> Subject:    Re: thanks
> To:         LIP AT odie DOT ee DOT wits DOT ac DOT za
> Date:       Wed, 10 Mar 93 11:49:27 EST
> From:       Stephen Turnbull <turnbull AT ecolan DOT sbs DOT ohio-state DOT edu>
> Cc:         djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu (DJ's GPP mailing list)

> >
> > Thanks again, the great support from you all is a real plus for djgpp
> > et al.
>   ^^^^^^
> "Et al." is for people, not things.

I think it is the people that make DJGPP such a good thing.  Look at
what has happened.  All the debate has lead to a good port of GCC
2.3.3 whihc slots in very nicely (Thanks to all who contributed).
>
> > Regards,
> > Tony.
>
> Seriously, I think we're all aware that many sites are limited with
> respect to UseNet availability.  But it's still the place to start.
> Show all the mail you got saying RU ("read UseNet") or RTFU (the
> obvious obscene gloss on RU) to your sysadmin.  There's probably
> nothing he can do about it, but if you're doing real work with GNU
> which you are getting for free, you can afford about 300MB of disk for
> the cost of supplying one programmer with say Zortech C/C++ or Borland
> C/C++.  For four programmers, you can get a 1GB monster disk at that
> rate.  TANSTAAFL---if you want good support for GNU stuff, you gotta
> pay for the disk to stash UseNet!
> --
>
> Stephen Turnbull

I don't think usenet is the whole answer.  There is something about
the GNU activity which is missing.  I think it is a begginer's FAQ,
which would list the various GNU utilities and say
(a) WHAT THEY DO and
(b) HOW THEY DO IT
I am thinking of things like ar, ranlib (and rcs, which I just found
out about).  There is a club of people who KNOW these things, from
the Unix world, and there doesn't seem to be such a guide.  I knwo
that working with DJGPP has introduced me to a lot of these things.

For those who don't know:
ar and ranlib are the utilties needed for rebuilding a library.
rcs (REVISION CONTROL SYSTEM) helps to keep track of program (and
text) file versions automatically.  There are TWO different DOS ports!

John


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Dr John P. Fletcher
Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry,
Aston University,         Tel: (44) 21 359 3611 ext 4625
Aston Triangle,         Email(Most systems): J DOT P DOT FLETCHER AT ASTON DOT AC DOT UK
BIRMINGHAM B4 7ET  U.K.   Email(JANET only): J DOT P DOT FLETCHER AT UK DOT AC DOT ASTON
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