Re: ProTerm 3.1 Upgrade

[cust_ts@kruuna.Helsinki.FI (Tero Sand)]

(NOTE THE FOLLOWUP!)

Is it just me, or is the following article unreasonable?

In article <mtm4.49.00129652@rsvl.unisys.com>,
Mike McCormick <mtm4@rsvl.unisys.com> wrote:
>Sorry, previous message with this Subject was a premature e-transmission! 
>
>As I started to say, I am a little miffed with the way my proterm upgrade
>(from 2.1 to 3.1) went:
>
>1. Manually copying a dozen or so files to the hard drive.  There should
>   be an INSTALLER on the product disk.
>

Installers are nice, IMO, and you might even say it's a negative point
if a program doesn't have it, but I really wouldn't put a value on a
program based on it. Not with "a dozen or so" files, anyway; GNO is
another matter. :-)

>2. Error prone install.  I accidentally forgot to create the required
>   empty (!) directory PT3.DIAL during the hand installation.  This leads
>   to mysterious error messages when you try to execute PT3.  The only
>   way to make the diagnostic message go away is a hard reset!
>

This falls into the category of RTFM; sorry, that's how I feel. You
_are_ correct in faulting PT3 for going haywire over an error, though.

>3. Hand rolled windows.  Glad to finally have mouse support, but why not 
>   have a ProTerm GS that uses real windows.  The simulated windows are
>   hard to read

??? You obviously have mouse characters, so - excuuuuuse me?


> and slower

Utterly false. Text is  a l w a y s  faster than graphics. This one
really amazes me.

> and monochrome.
>
>4. Unless I missed it, there is no longer a copy buffer in 3.1.  Can this
>   really be true?  I used the copy buffer quite alot as a place to create
>   a message offline in the editor, then upload it to a BBS.

How was this done in PT 2.1? In 3.0/3.1 you just select in the editor
what you want to send and then send it. No need for a separate buffer.

>
>5. Conversion of dialing list and macros from Proterm 2.x.  First, it is
>   hard to figure out how to even get 3.1 to run the PT3.CONVERT macro since
>   it does not appear in the macro list.  Once I figured it out, it worked
>   fairly well.  But I should not have to do a conversion!  PT3 should have
>   an Installer script that automatically detects the presence of PT2 files
>   and converts them for me without me ever knowing about it!
>

/I feel this is unreasonable. It would be a plus, but nothing more.

>6. Loss of modem init string.  PT3 does not seem to remember my init string,
>   nor did PT3.CONVERT go find it for me in the PT2 files.  Do I really have
>   to try and remember what it was, or what file it lives in, and manually
>   reinsert it in PT3?  I don't remember what it was anymore!

A genuine thing to gripe for, perhaps.

>7. Forced reinstallation of modem, printer, and slots.  It is silly at best
>   to have to go through all those dialog boxes again on upgrade.  PT3 
>   should use the configuration files that are in place from PT2.

Yow, all those three dialog boxes!
No comment.

---

Finally, 3.1 had quite a number of changes/improvements from 3.0; I
understand the 2.x->3.0 was much more drastic (does anybody have a list?).
In light of that, Mike seems to be nitpicking.

(I myself would wish for only one thing: to be able to freely divide all
available RAM between the editor, the transfer buffer, and scrollback.
The code-cache could probably remain at ~64K.)

> / Mike McCormick                          \ 
-- 
Tero Sand, 2 kyu		! Science is a process of enlarging one's
				! ignorance to dizzying heights.
EMail: cust_ts@cc.helsinki.fi	!	- D.C.Lindsay in talk.origins
       custts@cc.helsinki.fi	!