SCOUG-Programming Mailing List Archives

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Date:	Sun, 19 Jan 2003 21:26:25 PST8
From:	"Lynn H. Maxson" <lmaxson@pacbell.net >
Reply-To:	scoug-programming@scoug.com
To:	< "scoug-programming@scoug.com" > scoug-programming@scoug.com >
Subject:	SCOUG-Programming: Shall we begin?

Content Type: text/plain

The only handicap I see lies in the numerous, at best loosely
connected sources for writing OS/2 programs. For the techies
it poses no problems. It seems to be an accepted part of their
diet. To others of us it appears more of a hodgepodge: go
here for this, there for that, and on and on. When you are
uncomfortable, unsure, and inexperienced to begin with,
having your sources scattered all over hell leads to a
worsening and not a bettering of your condition. I think we
are making a good start, at least a reasonable one, with our
CD of the month.

I have no real means of countering Dave's somewhat
pessimistic view that only a handful of us in SCOUG will
participate. To me that's a starting point from which you
build. Dave talks of marketing. The secret has never
changed: you offer a value that exceeds the cost. The
challenge for the initial handful lies in providing the value that
will encourage others to buy in.

I don't care to see SCOUG or Philly becoming another web
source for OS/2 applications. We have more than enough of
them. If anything we need something of a consolidation, a
reduction of source locations, just to make it easier to keep
track of things. I do see SCOUG and Philly and any other
individual or group cooperating and contributing more with
established sources.

I never expected to find anyone using VAC++ 4.0. I uninstalled
mine, dropping back to 3.6.5. I did that on Steven's
recommendation. My current focus, however, lies with gaining
a deeper understanding of GCC and Watcom, both of which
are open source. From my perspective the less open source
efforts rely on closed source (proprietary) tools the better.
At the moment we need a PM-based editor equivalent in
effect to EPM, LPEX, SlickEdit, Brief, etc..

We have chosen for the moment to use HPCalc, an open
source OS/2 application, as a starting point. It's not trivial. It's
not complicated. It's lets us see what we are doing and what
we could be doing differently, particularly in terms of writing
less and getting more.

I see no reason why with our website, this mailing list, the
option to schedule chat sessions, and some influence over the
contents of the monthly CD that we can not only discuss, but
also get some "real" work done.

SCOUG basically operates as an open society, welcoming
participation by anyone in support of the OS/2 community.
Hakan, take that as an invitation.

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