5-Jan-91 05:41:26-MST,883;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Sat, 5 Jan 91 05:41:03 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA00516; Fri, 4 Jan 91 17:22:14 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 5 Jan 91 01:13:02 GMT From: magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu!news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Ann M. Chozinski) Organization: The Ohio State University (IRCC) Subject: Define Message-Id: <1991Jan5.011302.17081@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil What is this newsgroup all about??? Curious Annie achozi@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu 7-Jan-91 18:46:11-MST,2620;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Mon, 7 Jan 91 18:45:32 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA18132; Mon, 7 Jan 91 17:31:59 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 8 Jan 91 00:40:13 GMT From: mcdchg!heiby@rutgers.edu (Ron Heiby) Organization: Motorola Computer Group, Schaumburg, IL Subject: Re: Define Message-Id: <54002@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com> References: <1991Jan5.011302.17081@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil Way back in the "Golden Age" of personal computing, there was an operating system called CP/M, which later was renamed CP/M-80 (to avoid confusion with CP/M-86 and CP/M-68K). On CP/M-80, were available three wonderful software packages. One was a C compiler called "BDS C" (from BD Software). One was a text editor called "MINCE" (MINCE Is Not Complete Emacs). The third was a text formatter called "Scribble" (a subset of Scribe). The latter two programs were from "Mark of the Unicorn". All three were available seperately. All three were available bundled (with much of the source for Mince/Scribble in BDS-C) into package called "Amethyst". As the "Golden Age" was ending, and IBM came out with their "PC", Mince/Scribble were combined and enhanced into a package called "FinalWord". An even more enhanced version called "FinalWord II" came out a while later. A year or two after that, the rights to the program were sold to Borland, who turned it into their product called "Sprint". Now, Borland has announced that they have no plans to continue to upgrade, enhance, or fix Sprint any further. Some discussion has been taking place on CompuServe about what should be done. It would be truly sad to see such a fine and powerful package finally die for lack of interest. As to this newsgroup - there probably is no longer any point. I doubt that there are many Amethyst users still actively using CP/M-80. I file transferred all of my Mince/Scribble/BDS-C software to MS-DOS floppies just before de-commissioning my CP/M-80 system, just in case. In another 5-10 years, I'll probably stop bothering to keep even those. -- Ron Heiby, heiby@chg.mcd.mot.com Moderator: comp.newprod "Give me voice mail or give me drugs!"/"Mandatory Drug Testing? Just Say NO!!!" 12-Jan-91 09:37:05-MST,855;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from media-lab.media.mit.edu by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Sat, 12 Jan 91 09:35:55 MST Received: by media-lab.media.mit.edu (5.57/DA1.0.2) id AA17900; Sat, 12 Jan 91 00:18:38 EST Date: Sat, 12 Jan 91 00:18:38 EST From: Marvin Minsky Message-Id: <9101120518.AA17900@media-lab.media.mit.edu> To: mcdchg!heiby@rutgers.edu, minsky@media-lab.media.mit.edu Cc: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil In-Reply-To: Ron Heiby's message of 8 Jan 91 00:40:13 GMT <54002@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com> Subject: Define Sob. I did not know about the existence of Sprint. How can one get a copy. I used Final Word for a long time, and most of "The Society of Mind" was written in it. When I switched to Macs, I switched to Word. Does Borland still sell Sprint? 17-Jan-91 12:13:18-MST,1594;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Thu, 17 Jan 91 12:12:53 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA11589; Thu, 17 Jan 91 11:05:57 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 17 Jan 91 17:24:50 GMT From: amdahl!netcom!aahz@sun.com (Dan Bernstein) Organization: Netcom- The Bay Area's Public Access Unix System {408 241-9760 guest} Subject: Re: Define Message-Id: <21183@netcom.UUCP> References: <54002@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com>, <9101120518.AA17900@media-lab.media.mit.edu> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil In article <9101120518.AA17900@media-lab.media.mit.edu> minsky@MEDIA-LAB.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Marvin Minsky) writes: >Sob. I did not know about the existence of Sprint. How can one get a >copy. I used Final Word for a long time, and most of "The Society of >Mind" was written in it. When I switched to Macs, I switched to Word. >Does Borland still sell Sprint? Yes. We even support it. -- --- Aahz @netcom.uucp (or apple!netcom!aahz) "This is the third stage of human social evolution. First we had the legs race. Then we had the arms race. Now we're going to have the brain race. "And, if we're lucky, the final stage will be the human race." 23-Jan-91 17:13:15-MST,1861;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Wed, 23 Jan 91 17:12:58 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA20443; Wed, 23 Jan 91 15:48:57 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 23 Jan 91 22:10:56 GMT From: mcdchg!heiby@rutgers.edu (Ron Heiby) Organization: Motorola Computer Group, Schaumburg, IL Subject: Re: Define Message-Id: <55000@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com> References: <54002@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com>, <9101120518.AA17900@media-lab.media.mit.edu>, <21183@netcom.UUCP> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil aahz@netcom.UUCP (Dan Bernstein) writes: >>Does Borland still sell Sprint? >Yes. We even support it. Ahem! According to what I've read on the BORAPP Forum on CompuServe, Borland has decided that the finest text editor / text formatter available for personal computers is not part of their "strategic direction" (or words to that effect), and that there is *NO* ongoing work being done on Sprint. My father is writing a book. I recommended that he buy a cheap PC and Sprint and let me train his typist to use the basic features. I would come in later and fix up the formatting. (An easy process, since Sprint is not (yuck!) WYSIWYG.) Instead, he decided to hire someone who already owned a PC. She is using Word Perfect. I continually hear horrer stories from him about "things she says cannot be done" which I know are like "falling off a log" in Sprint. -- Ron Heiby, heiby@chg.mcd.mot.com Moderator: comp.newprod "Wrong is wrong, even when it helps you." Popeye 24-Jan-91 08:09:33-MST,2777;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Thu, 24 Jan 91 08:09:24 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA11077; Thu, 24 Jan 91 06:52:25 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 24 Jan 91 11:36:09 GMT From: olivea!oliveb!amdahl!netcom!aahz@uunet.uu.net (Dan Bernstein) Organization: Perv Subject: Re: Define Message-Id: <21798@netcom.UUCP> References: <9101120518.AA17900@media-lab.media.mit.edu>, <21183@netcom.UUCP>, <55000@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil In article <55000@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com> heiby@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com (Ron Heiby) writes: >aahz@netcom.UUCP (Dan Bernstein) writes: > >>>Does Borland still sell Sprint? > >>Yes. We even support it. > >Ahem! According to what I've read on the BORAPP Forum on CompuServe, >Borland has decided that the finest text editor / text formatter >available for personal computers is not part of their "strategic >direction" (or words to that effect), and that there is *NO* ongoing >work being done on Sprint. I won't comment publically on development of Sprint, since I have nothing to do with that. However, as far as I know, we *are* still selling and supporting it. The main problem with Sprint -- from my point of view -- is that it is exactly what you say it is: an editor and formatter. I believe that had Borland decided to sell it as that rather than as a word processor, it would have had more success. But that's in the past. >My father is writing a book. I recommended that he buy a cheap PC and >Sprint and let me train his typist to use the basic features. I would >come in later and fix up the formatting. (An easy process, since >Sprint is not (yuck!) WYSIWYG.) Instead, he decided to hire someone >who already owned a PC. She is using Word Perfect. I continually >hear horrer stories from him about "things she says cannot be done" >which I know are like "falling off a log" in Sprint. Hmmmmm.....sounds like she doesn't know WordPerfect very well..... of course, it would be dead simple to write a Sprint macro...... -- --- Aahz @netcom.uucp (or apple!netcom!aahz) "The meek shall inherit the earth -- 6'x6'x3'" "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." "You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once." "I'm not stupid, I'm not expendable, and I'm not going." 26-Jan-91 07:11:45-MST,1457;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Sat, 26 Jan 91 07:11:28 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA13959; Sat, 26 Jan 91 06:06:28 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 25 Jan 91 21:27:02 GMT From: ncis.tis.llnl.gov!dog.ee.lbl.gov!hellgate.utah.edu!fcom.cc.utah.edu!cc.utah.edu!cc.usu.edu!slsw2@lll-winken.llnl.gov Subject: Sprint Message-Id: <1991Jan25.152703.46742@cc.usu.edu> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil Since I noticed a discussion of Sprint going on here, I thought I would jump in with a question. A long time ago I bought a copy of Sprint to play with and, noticing that it claimed to support a VT100, I attempted to install it to run on my DEC Rainbow. It seemed to run fine on a PC that was driving a VT100, but I could never get the thing to come up on the Rainbow; it just printed a row of H's or something like that and died. Comments? -- =============================================================================== Roger Ivie 35 S 300 W Logan, Ut. 84321 (801) 752-8633 =============================================================================== 28-Jan-91 00:15:18-MST,2015;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Mon, 28 Jan 91 00:14:05 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA28577; Sun, 27 Jan 91 23:03:47 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 28 Jan 91 05:51:08 GMT From: magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think.com!mintaka!ogicse!plains!person@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Brett G. Person) Organization: North Dakota State University, Fargo Subject: Re: Sprint Message-Id: <7800@plains.NoDak.edu> References: <1991Jan25.152703.46742@cc.usu.edu> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil In article <1991Jan25.152703.46742@cc.usu.edu> slsw2@cc.usu.edu writes: >A long time ago I bought a copy of Sprint to play with and, noticing that >it claimed to support a VT100, I attempted to install it to run on my >DEC Rainbow. It seemed to run fine on a PC that was driving a VT100, but >I could never get the thing to come up on the Rainbow; it just printed a >row of H's or something like that and died. > >Comments? >-- Never noticed anything about vt100 compatibility, and dont have my manuals here, but... My guess is that there would have been a vt100 user interface file for it. Sprint is full of undocumented "features" like this, so it could be some secret command hidden somewhere. You've got me curious, I may need to shuffle through the distribution disks tonight... My other quick guess would be that there is a command somewhere in the sprint macro language for this purpose. Don't ask me where to look for it though. If you find out, let me know. -- Brett G. Person North Dakota State University uunet!plains!person | person@plains.bitnet | person@plains.nodak.edu 30-Jan-91 06:32:55-MST,2595;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Wed, 30 Jan 91 06:32:21 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA15345; Wed, 30 Jan 91 05:27:15 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 29 Jan 91 15:25:58 GMT From: usc!cs.utexas.edu!hellgate.utah.edu!fcom.cc.utah.edu!cc.utah.edu!cc.usu.edu!slsw2@ucsd.edu Subject: Re: Sprint Message-Id: <1991Jan29.092559.46767@cc.usu.edu> References: <1991Jan25.152703.46742@cc.usu.edu>, <7800@plains.NoDak.edu> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil In article <7800@plains.NoDak.edu>, person@plains.NoDak.edu (Brett G. Person) writes: > In article <1991Jan25.152703.46742@cc.usu.edu> slsw2@cc.usu.edu writes: > >>A long time ago I bought a copy of Sprint to play with and, noticing that >>it claimed to support a VT100, I attempted to install it to run on my >>DEC Rainbow. It seemed to run fine on a PC that was driving a VT100, but >>I could never get the thing to come up on the Rainbow; it just printed a >>row of H's or something like that and died. > My guess is that there would have been a vt100 user interface file for > it. Sprint is full of undocumented "features" like this, so it could be > some secret command hidden somewhere. There is a VT100 entry in the screen part of the installation; I used that. That's not the problem. Like I said, it works just fine if I have a PC clone that I've got a VT100 hung off, or running something like ANSI.SYS or FANSI-console. Silly me presumed, however, that if I fixed the screen thing it would be able to run on a non-clone like the Rainbow. The Rainbow's about as non-clone as you can get--the floppy controller is managed by a Z80, for instance. The screen on a Rainbow is a VT100-compatible terminal emulation; since the Rainbow is a DEC machine, the terminal emulation is very VT100-compatible. Since the thing works on a VT100 hung off a PC, I assumed it would work on the Rainbow. Nope! There is apparently some other PC-specific thing in Sprint. I'm looking for hints on what it might be. -- =============================================================================== Roger Ivie 35 S 300 W Logan, Ut. 84321 (801) 752-8633 =============================================================================== 5-Jan-91 05:41:26-MST,883;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Sat, 5 Jan 91 05:41:03 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA00516; Fri, 4 Jan 91 17:22:14 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 5 Jan 91 01:13:02 GMT From: magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu!news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Ann M. Chozinski) Organization: The Ohio State University (IRCC) Subject: Define Message-Id: <1991Jan5.011302.17081@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil What is this newsgroup all about??? Curious Annie achozi@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu 7-Jan-91 18:46:11-MST,2620;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Mon, 7 Jan 91 18:45:32 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA18132; Mon, 7 Jan 91 17:31:59 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 8 Jan 91 00:40:13 GMT From: mcdchg!heiby@rutgers.edu (Ron Heiby) Organization: Motorola Computer Group, Schaumburg, IL Subject: Re: Define Message-Id: <54002@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com> References: <1991Jan5.011302.17081@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil Way back in the "Golden Age" of personal computing, there was an operating system called CP/M, which later was renamed CP/M-80 (to avoid confusion with CP/M-86 and CP/M-68K). On CP/M-80, were available three wonderful software packages. One was a C compiler called "BDS C" (from BD Software). One was a text editor called "MINCE" (MINCE Is Not Complete Emacs). The third was a text formatter called "Scribble" (a subset of Scribe). The latter two programs were from "Mark of the Unicorn". All three were available seperately. All three were available bundled (with much of the source for Mince/Scribble in BDS-C) into package called "Amethyst". As the "Golden Age" was ending, and IBM came out with their "PC", Mince/Scribble were combined and enhanced into a package called "FinalWord". An even more enhanced version called "FinalWord II" came out a while later. A year or two after that, the rights to the program were sold to Borland, who turned it into their product called "Sprint". Now, Borland has announced that they have no plans to continue to upgrade, enhance, or fix Sprint any further. Some discussion has been taking place on CompuServe about what should be done. It would be truly sad to see such a fine and powerful package finally die for lack of interest. As to this newsgroup - there probably is no longer any point. I doubt that there are many Amethyst users still actively using CP/M-80. I file transferred all of my Mince/Scribble/BDS-C software to MS-DOS floppies just before de-commissioning my CP/M-80 system, just in case. In another 5-10 years, I'll probably stop bothering to keep even those. -- Ron Heiby, heiby@chg.mcd.mot.com Moderator: comp.newprod "Give me voice mail or give me drugs!"/"Mandatory Drug Testing? Just Say NO!!!" 12-Jan-91 09:37:05-MST,855;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from media-lab.media.mit.edu by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Sat, 12 Jan 91 09:35:55 MST Received: by media-lab.media.mit.edu (5.57/DA1.0.2) id AA17900; Sat, 12 Jan 91 00:18:38 EST Date: Sat, 12 Jan 91 00:18:38 EST From: Marvin Minsky Message-Id: <9101120518.AA17900@media-lab.media.mit.edu> To: mcdchg!heiby@rutgers.edu, minsky@media-lab.media.mit.edu Cc: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil In-Reply-To: Ron Heiby's message of 8 Jan 91 00:40:13 GMT <54002@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com> Subject: Define Sob. I did not know about the existence of Sprint. How can one get a copy. I used Final Word for a long time, and most of "The Society of Mind" was written in it. When I switched to Macs, I switched to Word. Does Borland still sell Sprint? 17-Jan-91 12:13:18-MST,1594;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Thu, 17 Jan 91 12:12:53 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA11589; Thu, 17 Jan 91 11:05:57 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 17 Jan 91 17:24:50 GMT From: amdahl!netcom!aahz@sun.com (Dan Bernstein) Organization: Netcom- The Bay Area's Public Access Unix System {408 241-9760 guest} Subject: Re: Define Message-Id: <21183@netcom.UUCP> References: <54002@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com>, <9101120518.AA17900@media-lab.media.mit.edu> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil In article <9101120518.AA17900@media-lab.media.mit.edu> minsky@MEDIA-LAB.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Marvin Minsky) writes: >Sob. I did not know about the existence of Sprint. How can one get a >copy. I used Final Word for a long time, and most of "The Society of >Mind" was written in it. When I switched to Macs, I switched to Word. >Does Borland still sell Sprint? Yes. We even support it. -- --- Aahz @netcom.uucp (or apple!netcom!aahz) "This is the third stage of human social evolution. First we had the legs race. Then we had the arms race. Now we're going to have the brain race. "And, if we're lucky, the final stage will be the human race." 23-Jan-91 17:13:15-MST,1861;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Wed, 23 Jan 91 17:12:58 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA20443; Wed, 23 Jan 91 15:48:57 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 23 Jan 91 22:10:56 GMT From: mcdchg!heiby@rutgers.edu (Ron Heiby) Organization: Motorola Computer Group, Schaumburg, IL Subject: Re: Define Message-Id: <55000@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com> References: <54002@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com>, <9101120518.AA17900@media-lab.media.mit.edu>, <21183@netcom.UUCP> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil aahz@netcom.UUCP (Dan Bernstein) writes: >>Does Borland still sell Sprint? >Yes. We even support it. Ahem! According to what I've read on the BORAPP Forum on CompuServe, Borland has decided that the finest text editor / text formatter available for personal computers is not part of their "strategic direction" (or words to that effect), and that there is *NO* ongoing work being done on Sprint. My father is writing a book. I recommended that he buy a cheap PC and Sprint and let me train his typist to use the basic features. I would come in later and fix up the formatting. (An easy process, since Sprint is not (yuck!) WYSIWYG.) Instead, he decided to hire someone who already owned a PC. She is using Word Perfect. I continually hear horrer stories from him about "things she says cannot be done" which I know are like "falling off a log" in Sprint. -- Ron Heiby, heiby@chg.mcd.mot.com Moderator: comp.newprod "Wrong is wrong, even when it helps you." Popeye 24-Jan-91 08:09:33-MST,2777;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Thu, 24 Jan 91 08:09:24 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA11077; Thu, 24 Jan 91 06:52:25 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 24 Jan 91 11:36:09 GMT From: olivea!oliveb!amdahl!netcom!aahz@uunet.uu.net (Dan Bernstein) Organization: Perv Subject: Re: Define Message-Id: <21798@netcom.UUCP> References: <9101120518.AA17900@media-lab.media.mit.edu>, <21183@netcom.UUCP>, <55000@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil In article <55000@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com> heiby@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com (Ron Heiby) writes: >aahz@netcom.UUCP (Dan Bernstein) writes: > >>>Does Borland still sell Sprint? > >>Yes. We even support it. > >Ahem! According to what I've read on the BORAPP Forum on CompuServe, >Borland has decided that the finest text editor / text formatter >available for personal computers is not part of their "strategic >direction" (or words to that effect), and that there is *NO* ongoing >work being done on Sprint. I won't comment publically on development of Sprint, since I have nothing to do with that. However, as far as I know, we *are* still selling and supporting it. The main problem with Sprint -- from my point of view -- is that it is exactly what you say it is: an editor and formatter. I believe that had Borland decided to sell it as that rather than as a word processor, it would have had more success. But that's in the past. >My father is writing a book. I recommended that he buy a cheap PC and >Sprint and let me train his typist to use the basic features. I would >come in later and fix up the formatting. (An easy process, since >Sprint is not (yuck!) WYSIWYG.) Instead, he decided to hire someone >who already owned a PC. She is using Word Perfect. I continually >hear horrer stories from him about "things she says cannot be done" >which I know are like "falling off a log" in Sprint. Hmmmmm.....sounds like she doesn't know WordPerfect very well..... of course, it would be dead simple to write a Sprint macro...... -- --- Aahz @netcom.uucp (or apple!netcom!aahz) "The meek shall inherit the earth -- 6'x6'x3'" "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." "You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once." "I'm not stupid, I'm not expendable, and I'm not going." 26-Jan-91 07:11:45-MST,1457;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Sat, 26 Jan 91 07:11:28 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA13959; Sat, 26 Jan 91 06:06:28 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 25 Jan 91 21:27:02 GMT From: ncis.tis.llnl.gov!dog.ee.lbl.gov!hellgate.utah.edu!fcom.cc.utah.edu!cc.utah.edu!cc.usu.edu!slsw2@lll-winken.llnl.gov Subject: Sprint Message-Id: <1991Jan25.152703.46742@cc.usu.edu> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil Since I noticed a discussion of Sprint going on here, I thought I would jump in with a question. A long time ago I bought a copy of Sprint to play with and, noticing that it claimed to support a VT100, I attempted to install it to run on my DEC Rainbow. It seemed to run fine on a PC that was driving a VT100, but I could never get the thing to come up on the Rainbow; it just printed a row of H's or something like that and died. Comments? -- =============================================================================== Roger Ivie 35 S 300 W Logan, Ut. 84321 (801) 752-8633 =============================================================================== 28-Jan-91 00:15:18-MST,2015;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Mon, 28 Jan 91 00:14:05 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA28577; Sun, 27 Jan 91 23:03:47 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 28 Jan 91 05:51:08 GMT From: magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think.com!mintaka!ogicse!plains!person@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Brett G. Person) Organization: North Dakota State University, Fargo Subject: Re: Sprint Message-Id: <7800@plains.NoDak.edu> References: <1991Jan25.152703.46742@cc.usu.edu> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil In article <1991Jan25.152703.46742@cc.usu.edu> slsw2@cc.usu.edu writes: >A long time ago I bought a copy of Sprint to play with and, noticing that >it claimed to support a VT100, I attempted to install it to run on my >DEC Rainbow. It seemed to run fine on a PC that was driving a VT100, but >I could never get the thing to come up on the Rainbow; it just printed a >row of H's or something like that and died. > >Comments? >-- Never noticed anything about vt100 compatibility, and dont have my manuals here, but... My guess is that there would have been a vt100 user interface file for it. Sprint is full of undocumented "features" like this, so it could be some secret command hidden somewhere. You've got me curious, I may need to shuffle through the distribution disks tonight... My other quick guess would be that there is a command somewhere in the sprint macro language for this purpose. Don't ask me where to look for it though. If you find out, let me know. -- Brett G. Person North Dakota State University uunet!plains!person | person@plains.bitnet | person@plains.nodak.edu 30-Jan-91 06:32:55-MST,2595;000000000000 Return-Path: Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL with TCP; Wed, 30 Jan 91 06:32:21 MST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.42) id AA15345; Wed, 30 Jan 91 05:27:15 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 29 Jan 91 15:25:58 GMT From: usc!cs.utexas.edu!hellgate.utah.edu!fcom.cc.utah.edu!cc.utah.edu!cc.usu.edu!slsw2@ucsd.edu Subject: Re: Sprint Message-Id: <1991Jan29.092559.46767@cc.usu.edu> References: <1991Jan25.152703.46742@cc.usu.edu>, <7800@plains.NoDak.edu> Sender: amethyst-users-request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil To: amethyst-users@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil In article <7800@plains.NoDak.edu>, person@plains.NoDak.edu (Brett G. Person) writes: > In article <1991Jan25.152703.46742@cc.usu.edu> slsw2@cc.usu.edu writes: > >>A long time ago I bought a copy of Sprint to play with and, noticing that >>it claimed to support a VT100, I attempted to install it to run on my >>DEC Rainbow. It seemed to run fine on a PC that was driving a VT100, but >>I could never get the thing to come up on the Rainbow; it just printed a >>row of H's or something like that and died. > My guess is that there would have been a vt100 user interface file for > it. Sprint is full of undocumented "features" like this, so it could be > some secret command hidden somewhere. There is a VT100 entry in the screen part of the installation; I used that. That's not the problem. Like I said, it works just fine if I have a PC clone that I've got a VT100 hung off, or running something like ANSI.SYS or FANSI-console. Silly me presumed, however, that if I fixed the screen thing it would be able to run on a non-clone like the Rainbow. The Rainbow's about as non-clone as you can get--the floppy controller is managed by a Z80, for instance. The screen on a Rainbow is a VT100-compatible terminal emulation; since the Rainbow is a DEC machine, the terminal emulation is very VT100-compatible. Since the thing works on a VT100 hung off a PC, I assumed it would work on the Rainbow. Nope! There is apparently some other PC-specific thing in Sprint. I'm looking for hints on what it might be. -- =============================================================================== Roger Ivie 35 S 300 W Logan, Ut. 84321 (801) 752-8633 ===============================================================================