Re: ORCA/C

[jpenne@ee.ualberta.ca (Jerry Penner)]

larry@lablues.UUCP (Lawrance A. Schneider) writes:

>Joe Walters wrote:

>|The better news is: Noone that hasn't received 2.0 has been charged
>|on their credit card.

>Wrong!!  I've been charged and I've also been charged for the
>_Learning to Program in C_  which I've not received!!!!!!!!!!

Take a pill, you're not alone.  Byteworks still exists.  Mike is still
on GEnie.  I'm waiting too.

[...]
>told that a program was issued with known errors; the author of the
>program has charged those having bought the program in good faith; in
>short, that those buyers are SOOL!!

Not yet, anyhow.

>My partner in PageWriter uses ORCA/M; I've always used Merlin.  I did
>my original disassembly of Apple Writer with Merlin.  I bought the
>ORCA to have more compatibility with Chet.  While compatibility was a
>noble goal, what a mistake!  The preverse complexity of the ORCA
>system is appalling.

The Orca system is not ultra complex.  I find it very simple.  And
_much_ better than the Merlin system (I only have versions up to
Merlin 16, not 16+) which locks you in considerably more.  Orca has to
be more complex to support multiple languages and a command line where
you can add as many commands as you like.  I suppose that you probably
haven't been exposed much to Unix, so you haven't come to appreciate
the power of a shell.  Unix is complex, terse, and a pain for
beginners.  However, for seasoned programmers it is excellent because
it is so flexible (don't like your shell, use a different one).  Orca
pales somewhat in comparison to Unix in terms of complexity.  However,
it's really an excellent system.

>While I will continue to pretend patience, I must say that all of my
>dealing with the ByteWorks have left much to be desired.

Except for this upgrade, I've always found them to be pretty quick and
they keep me notified of all new and upgraded products.  I've gotten
better support from them than anyone else, except maybe Roger Wagnger
Publishing.  Remember, Byte Works is one of the few remaining Apple II
resources.  Try to be a little more patient with them.  I'm not
advocating you give them your money for nothing, but try not to jump
off the bandwagon too soon.
-- 
Jerry Penner   jpenne@ee.ualberta.ca   or   jjp@myrias.ab.ca