[Coco] Becker Port Specifications?

[Aaron Wolfe]

On Mon, Apr 1, 2013 at 3:39 PM, Stephen H. Fischer
<SFischer1 at mindspring.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> how was the Becker port added to VCC?
>
> A code change or
>
> Just an addition like the "fd502.dll" was added or is the author of VCC
> involved or is there a copy of the VCC code online in addition to the locked
> and never seen place I know about (WebMaster has no permission to release
> the code and is AWOL as no posts have been seen from him for a very long
> time, I and him are NOT on speaking terms).
>
> It is well past the time that VCC source needs to be released IMHO.
>
> Hints have done no good, now is the time to get direct with the requests.
> Others, please post messages.
>

My understanding is that the author gave David permission to add the
becker port and make some other improvements.  I assisted David a
little bit with the code.  It is built into the main IO area
currently, not implemented as a separate DLL (thought that may well be
something that could be done).

There was initially hope of the VCC code being released or at least
the modified version being permitted for distribution by the author,
but I don't think progress has been made on that front.  David may
know more.

<opinion>
I think it's important to respect the author's wishes here, even if we
do not understand or like them.  It is his work and his prerogative.
On the other hand, I think the argument for open sourcing *any* CoCo
software being written today is very strong.  Interest in the CoCo
hobby waxes and wanes for all of us, and there are far too many good
tools now abandoned and unmaintainable (or unobtainable).  It seems
more responsible to keep the source open so that regardless of
personal interest, etc the software can continue to be useful to those
who would use it.
</opinion>

>From what I've seen of the VCC source, it is sadly tied to aging
Windows APIs that have long since been replaced (it's difficult to
even find the libraries needed to build it).  At this point, even if
it were open sourced, there would be an awful lot of work needed to
maintain it.  There is also the major drawback of being intimately
tied to the Win32 platform.

Meanwhile XRoar is cross platform, open source, actively maintained,
and becoming closer and closer to a CoCo 3 emulator. In my opinion
this is the emulator of the future.  VCC is a great piece of software,
but I don't know how it will be able to last.

$0.02
-Aaron