Date: Tue, 4 Apr 1995 04:22:59 -0300 (ADT)
From: Bill Davidson <bdavidson AT ra DOT isisnet DOT com>
Subject: Re: Info on future enh. to FSF gcc, not djgpp (unoffical providor)
To: ".ASM SoftWare Systems" <rdc AT freenet DOT vancouver DOT bc DOT ca>
Cc: djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu



On Mon, 3 Apr 1995, .ASM SoftWare Systems wrote:

>   They are not expending great efforts to support MSDOS ;>

Well, why would they?  I mean, really, aren't we all flogging a dead 
horse?  Sure, djgpp gives us a way to do useful work under DOS, but DOS 
IS DEAD!!  Hasn't anybody noticed?  Windoze is now the API of choice, 
with UNIX and OS/2 duking it out for last place.
Don't get me wrong, I love djgpp and I like DOS (or at least I love to 
hate it), but it is an orphaned platform.  Microsoft is not going to come 
out with a DOS 7; it is Windoze '96.
And why should we cry (except for DJ, who has done so much work to make 
life easier for the rest of us)?  DOS is a joke of a 16-bit OS.  Everyone 
who runs djgpp (or just go32) has a machine that is capable of far more 
than DOS can get out of it, and we have to run a "DOS extender" to make 
it all work.  When is the last time you saw a UNIX extender?
Well, OK, WIN32s is a "Windoze extender", but that still gets back to 
argument number 1: DOS is dead.  Nobody is writing new commercial apps 
for DOS, and those that are might as well be writing for CP/M.
It pains me to say this, but I am going to put Windoze on my machine, 
learn to program that API, and start to forget all about int21h.
I've been programming under DOS (in C and asm) for a few years now, but 
there just isn't any sense in it any more. (Pardon me if I don't delete 
djgpp _quite_ yet! -- *sob, sniffle*)
(flames welcome -- tell me I'm wrong!)
Bill Davidson
bdavidson AT ra DOT isisnet DOT com