Subj : MSGID
To   : mark lewis
From : Maurice Kinal
Date : Sun Feb 13 2005 11:50 am

Hey mark!

Feb 13 13:58 05, mark lewis wrote to Maurice Kinal:

 ml> but then it wouldn't have been storable in a longint ;)

Do you mean 64 bits?  That would be extremely doable.  Then again it 
potentially could mean 128 bits to a few systems.

You must be doing 16 bit DOS-think.  ;-)

 ml> ya gotta remember when this stuff was developed and what languages 
 ml> were being used... (borland) pascal was one of the most common... 
 ml> basic and c were also used with c getting more use as time marched 
 ml> on...

It doesn't matter.  I was working with 64 bit systems back then and had to port 
FORTRAN source from my 386-16, where I liked to experiment with ideas, to a 64 
bit UNIX enviroment.  I managed.  What is their excuse?  My best guess is they 
didn't really understand what they were doing.  Has little to do with language 
unless one can't think beyond it's "limitiations".

 ml> if one takes a good look at structures for many FTN tools, apps, and 
 ml> even bbs', one can easily see the pascal influence by the data 
 ml> structures used...

I suppose but most of what I see has little to do with any language whatsoever. 
 Most of the problems relate to lack of vision rather then any so-called OS 
limitation, such as DOS, which is obviously still haunting all of us.

The reason I like perl is that I can easily experiment with ideas without 
jumping through too many hoops and could port these scripts to a compilable 
language without too much difficulty.  Also perl kick's butt when compared to 
other scripting languages as far as basic IO goes, as well as the availabilty 
of some truly good modules.  For instance comparing perl to php I have found 
the same functions are vastly superior in perl and yet looking out there on the 
web I see the opposite being employed.  That is one reason I don't care much 
for web interfaces, although there are a few other good reasons as well which 
don't have much to do with perl, so I won't bother elaborating.  Anyhow perl 
works great on the console so I am happy with it.

I believe a good perl ftn module would be a desirable commodity.  What do you 
think?

Life is good,
Maurice

--- Msged/LNX 6.1.2
 * Origin: Coffin Point - Ladysmith, BC Canada (1:153/401.1)

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