Re: what new 8-bit software / port would you want?

[ol.sc@web.de (Oliver Schmidt)]

Hi Simon,

>> Contiki 1.3 for the enhanced 128k Apple //e comes with the Contiki web
>> server. But again, only a few compiled-in pages. No ProDOS file
>> access.

>I wasn't aware of that... but now I'm getting excited !!!
>
>When you say "compiled-in pages" do you mean default pages hard-coded into
>Contiki, or can the user compile their own pages... and if the latter, is
>it something that a relative novice can handle, or are we talking serious
>programmer stuff?

Unfortunately the current situation is that although all parts are
kind of available...
- The web server generally running on Apple2.
- Some alternative code fragments aimed to do OS filesystem access.
- Quite comprehensive ProDOS filesystem support in the C-Library.
...still there's no Contiki web server with ProDOS file access
available - and changing the current static pages requires significant
knowhow.

The reason is that I view myself as a Contiki system programmer, not a
Contiki application programmer. Most Contiki applications are just a
Proof of Concept but are not finished and/or really usable. In
example:
- The FTP client does only downloads, but no uploads.
- The Email client does only SMTP, but no POP3/IMAP.
- The Telnet client requires to press a send button for every command.
- The editor doesn't allow to save the edited file.
- ...

If somebody with the necessary knowledge and interest would step in,
Contiki could become THE 8-bit Apple2 platform. We're talking about
programming in C for a proprietary event model. Development is done on
the PC (Linux, Windows, ...) with the cc65 cross compiler tool chain.

The Contiki core system on the other hand works very well. It's stable
and has a quite elaborated memory model. It contains a fully
compatible TCP/IP stack and support for two Ethernet cards.

If there should be a momentum for application programming on Contiki
I'd be willing to add SLIP support so one wouldn't need special
hardware but could connect through a SSC...

Best, Oliver