[Coco] NitrOS-9 Update

[Boisy Pitre]

Folks,

Some time ago we announced that NitrOS-9 was mostly back-ported to the 
6809.  Thanks to Robert Gault's help, that is a complete 100% success.  
We now have the two "big" modules, windint and grfdrv, successfully 
running under both the 6309 and 6809, along with all drivers and other 
modules.

In the past, the term 'NitrOS-9' has been associated solely with the 
6309.  Now that a successful back-port has been done, the term NitrOS-9 
will be applied to all versions of OS-9, from Level 1 to Level 3, for 
both the 6809 and 6309.  This should allay copyright and licensing 
concerns that have plagued CoCo OS-9 users for a long time.  Now, 
finally, we have a true community-based version of OS-9 that is 100% 
compatible with the original Tandy OS-9 product.

Testing so far seems very promising, and before the end of this month, 
NitrOS-9/6809 Level 1, NitrOS-9/6809 Level 2 and NitrOS-9/6309 Level 2 
version 3.2.0 will be made available on the website at www.nitros9.org. 
  The three packages will each come on two 40 track double-sided disk 
images.

Now that the work of back-porting NitrOS-9 to the 6809 is complete, the 
focus will turn to back-porting NitrOS-9 Level 2 to Level 1.  This will 
be a bit more challenging undertaking, but is the next step of the 
evolution of the project.

One area that we sorely lack in is documentation.  I have made a call 
for assistance for quite a while, and no one has stepped up to the 
plate yet.  At this point, the documentation is in "docbook" format, 
and would prefer to keep it in that format if at all possible, since it 
can be easily translated into HTML, PDF, etc.  So once again, if anyone 
can hit the ground running with little or no hand holding in this area, 
please volunteer.

Boisy Pitre