[Coco] NoICE debugging for the Coco

[Boisy Pitre]

On Mar 5, 2006, at 7:41 AM, Mark Marlette wrote:

> Robert/Boisy,
>
> I was waiting to see how many responded to this. Zero. :(

I think this is due to a general lack of interest amongst CoCo users  
to delve into the real guts of NitrOS-9, which is now easier than  
ever with easy access to the source code.  Operating systems is not  
for everyone, but I too am disappointed in the general lack of  
participation in the project (with the exception of a few individuals  
that you've noted).

> This is a hardware/software dream! A tool that we have never had  
> for the CoCo. Truly a GIANT step forward.

That is correct.  For me, remote debugging was one of those "holy  
grails" of CoCo development that, until now, was just a dream.  I  
have to give credit to John Hogerhuis for pointing out the NoICE  
protocol in his April 4, 2005 message to this list.  It gave me a  
lead to follow, which eventually blossomed into this work.

> I have seen people in the past compare us to the Commodore group.  
> Why don't we have this, they do, etc. Well they might have a larger  
> following? I don't know. What I do know is that they must be using  
> the current tools that are available to be creating these projects.

I think there is a greater interest in that community because there  
are more people.  I'm not sure, percentage wise, what the developer  
to user ratio is in either camp.

> My point, we need to have more people using these tools, creating  
> hardware and software for the CoCo. Instead most sit and talk about  
> what it was like 20 years ago. Mosts of the posts are off topic,  
> which is fine if that is what you use this list for. I do not.  
> Seriously, the best time to own/develop for a CoCo is now.

I totally agree.  We need to get some of this talent that is sitting  
on the sidelines here and just talking about doing things to actually  
DO things. As you pointed out, the CoCo 4 thread starts up again here  
with some regularity.  It's fine to dream, but there is a lot to do  
to for what we have HERE and NOW.

> Great work by all on this project. Tip of the hat.....

Thanks.  Robert Gault has been extremely instrumental in getting 6309  
and Disk BASIC support for NoICE and deserves some huge kudos.  For  
that matter, John Hartman, NoICE creator, has generously given us his  
time and some source code in order to make this happen.

Boisy