[Coco] Ownership of NitOS-9

[nickma2 at optusnet.com.au]

I agree with what you say. Everyone's machine is different. That's why
OS-9 needs an easy to use way for each user to create a system that
suits their hardware setup.

Something anyone can use comfortably without needing to be a seasoned
OS-9 veteran.

Can you see what I'm saying?

If a newbie struggles to even be able to setup his OS, what impression
does that leave after hours of frustration?

If that newbie could simply run OSCONFIG (or whatever) and be
presented with some menu system where he picks his hardware components
and it does all the work of fetching the drivers from a repository on
another disk, leaving him with a finished OS at the end, wouldn't he
walk away feeling impressed with the system? That's the true power of
an OS, it being able to act intelligently on your behalf and allowing
the user to "get on with the job".

Because there is so much diversity in hardware, all the more reason
for the need for this sort of "polish".

Nick

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Pierce" <ooogalapasooo at aol.com> "CoCoList for Color
Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
To:<coco at maltedmedia.com>
Cc:
Sent:Wed, 5 Nov 2014 17:21:14 -0500
Subject:Re: [Coco] Ownership of NitOS-9

 Nick... what you have to realize and remember about Nitros9... is
that my system is NOT like yours, and yours is NOT like Gene's and
Gene's is NOT like Robert's....
 I doubt any given system by any two people one this list are the
same. There's different drivers for different hardware, and different
hardware for different needs.
 To say something is wrong with Nitros9 because you were trying to use
the wrong access method is the very reason OS9 got a bad name in the
beginning. In the past 30 years of working in OS9, I have found that
99.99% of the complaints I've seen/heard/solved were user's mistakes.
 There is no way in a distribution of a product like Nitros9 that you
can anticipate the user's hardware and build "one system" that will
work for everybody... your SDC boot would crash badly on my Dw4 or B&B
systems.
 That has been the boon of OS9 from the beginning... not a lack of
proper drivers.... but a lack of "standard" hardware. Nitros9 as it
stands today, with someone with the knowledge to set their system up
correctly, is the most stable build of OS9 i've ever run.... BAR NONE.
Polish??? Personally, I think it's damned shiney already...
 First... know your hardware... research the drivers for that
harware... they're all in the repo... then set up a system using the
proper drivers for YOUR system. That is really the hardest step in
OS9... getting the boot right for your system.
 The SDC (from what I understand) was meant to replace the floppy
disk... and maybe even the hard drive. I've no real knowledge of how
it works until I have one which will not be anytime soon as I cannot
afford it. But again.... the word "Documentation" comes in. I've seen
the SDC website, but I don't believe the product has any docs..... A
product with this much power should have RSDOS and OS9 docs explaining
exactly how to set it up and run it. I may be wrong and Darren may
have provided documentation... if so, sorry for mentioning it. But
it's common at this time for everyone creating all this great
hardware/software and no Docs.... then the questions come... and the
vague answers... and more questions.... Pretty soon, people just give
up.
 As I said before... I've been doing this 30 years and I still learn
something new every day :-)

 Bill Pierce
 "Today is a good day... I woke up" - Ritchie Havens

 My Music from the Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer 2 & 3
 https://sites.google.com/site/dabarnstudio/
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