Subj : Re: v4.0
To   : alt.bbs.synchronet
From : Sinister x
Date : Mon Sep 05 2005 06:21 am

From Newsgroup: alt.bbs.synchronet

> In fact, someone who can code in Pascal and C could use the Synchronet 
> code
> to push it even past Mystic onto a more modern level. Just like alot of
> things with Synchronet are external (fossil, xtrn, sexyz, the list goes 
> on)
> this same concept could allow for integration of features into Nexus 
> without
> bogging it down.

I hate to burst your bubble but Pascal to C conversion is a drawn out 
process that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Most pascal arrays are 
one-based, so when you make the conversion to 0-based arrays in C, it 
becomes a massive pain in the ass to keep ALL of your variables in sync with 
each other (this includes stuff you don't think of typically like counter 
variables and such). I tried converting over Iniquity's Tetris app to C 
once, it was a mess and will still take me hours on end to complete if I 
decide to pick it back up, notwithstanding the fact that the original source 
code was so archaic and poorly/uncommented it really makes for a good "real 
world" test of how well you can read someone else's old crappy code and make 
it do something new.

> Also, turning the Synchronet code into *.bin as opposed to *.exe -- as 
> long
> as Pascal is able to "read the formats" Synchronet uses, alot of features
> would be able to be internal via the structure code. The current WFC could 
> be
> turned into something more like SCFG, the Nexux exe's could also become 
> bin's
> and a modded SBBSCTRL could read any Nexus formats.

Personally, I'd like to see a BBS software where someone makes a screensaver 
(e.g. .scr in windows) that accesses the bbs structures. That would be a 
pretty tight replacement to the standard WFC. I was thinking of doing this 
for mystic, but I'm running it on Linux instead of Win32 (and won't have a 
good OpenGL card on my linux box until tonight or whenever I get around to 
handing down parts). 


--- Synchronet 3.13a-Win32 NewsLink 1.83

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