[Coco] origins of OS-9

[jdaggett at gate.net]

On 5 Mar 2010 at 1:44, Aaron Wolfe wrote:

> I get that.  What I don't understand is what does this have to do with
> how OS-9 went from being a support system for Basic09 to a full
> fledged operating system?  Is there some relevancy that I am missing?

Aaron

I think you have the two flipped. You are putting Basic09 ahead of the OS.

from The Complete Rainbow Guide to OS9 page 4, the synopsis is that BothMicroware and 
Motorola saw a need to bring multitasking/multiuser power of larger UNIX systems to the 
smaller home computers. UNIX writtenin C was far to big for the 8 bit computers. So it was 
written in asembly. 

"Motorola layed down some tough criteria. They wanted an operating system that would 
exercise every ounce of capability of the 6809. Several 16-bit registers and almost every 
memory addressing mode available on a minicomputer made the job easier."

The above quote from page 4 suggests that Motorola was the driver for the OS and that 
basic and other languages and feature were secondary. Here is anothr quote to support that. 

"The company's goal was to sell mass-produced "software-on-silicon". Motorola wanted to 
distribute their software in ROM ... chips."

I would also suspect that the COCO was driven by Motorola considering that all the games 
and applications were interchanged via the expansion port and a ROM pack. The driving 
need of the home game market ws behind the COCO. Adding OS9 and Basic was to try and 
capture the more sophisiticated hoem user. Motorola was producing their Exocrciser and 
EXORcet units for the industrial/commercial and education market.

james