[Coco] drivewire serial port progress

[Aaron Wolfe]

On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 2:18 PM, Roger Taylor <operator at coco3.com> wrote:
> At 10:49 AM 11/30/2009, you wrote:
>>
>> I agree it's ambiguous, but I think he was trying to say you can do
>> whatever you want on your own machine ("you own programs") but you
>> can't use his code in something that you distribute to others ("for
>> public release").
>>
>> Legally, I don't know if his license would hold any water anyway, but
>> I like to follow the spirit of these things rather than the letter.
>>
>> The code is not very complex, and Mr. Olsen's implementation is very
>> basic.  The virtual modem I'm just now finishing up for DriveWire is
>> much nicer (supports more commands, more efficient, etc).  Porting
>> this to the Windows version will be easier than adapting Internet
>> Modem anyway :)
>
> I don't know... the program is already there to build on or restructure
> without rewriting it from scratch.  And I've looked at the code and have
> decided that it is not "very basic".  The code that processes the commands
> is rather simple but the networking stuff took skill and knowledge and I
> doubt anybody can just whip that up overnight.  If you can do that and make

It took more than one night, but both a virtual modem and some nice
multithreaded networking code is complete in my modified drivewire
server.  There isn't much that translates cleanly between C and .Net,
but if my code is of any use to you, you're welcome to it.

I'm going to do.. something.. on the Windows side of DriveWire.  The
current server is written in Delphi, something I don't have access to
or experience with.  I haven't had the reliability issues you mention,
but I would like to improve some things and add the new features I
shoehorned into the Linux version.  Not sure exactly where I'll end up
with that yet :)

> your server handle the CoCoNet virtual disk commands, maybe there can be an
> alternative since CoCoNet is a scheme and not really a product, and I'm
> going to release the source code once I pretty it up some.  I tend to code
> messy when I'm trying to beat a deadline, but then nobody writes nastier
> code than Sock Master, so I think I'm good here no matter what.  ;)  The
> thing is, Sock's code is usually Very clever and has every reason to look
> how it looks on paper.  Heh.
>
> The other thing about releasing source code is that my long-time buddies
> like Robert Gault will go right away within minutes criticizing my coding
> style or choices, short cuts, so I'm trying to reduce that "effect" the best
> I can before throwing the code out there.  Actually, I get more "why did you
> do that when you could have done this" type of comments from the general
> public than actual criticism, so I'm used to it and it doesn't keep me from
> moving forward with a working program in the end.
>
> My choice for using VB.NET ended up being automatic eventually since I
> reused the Internet Modem source code which is in VB.NET.  It runs fast and
> I see no reason why there should be criticism there, but I'll get it for
> sure.  In the end, there's a powerful cartridge-based system here that can
> revive many bare and otherwise dead CoCo's.
>
> Like I said, I'll talk to the author of Internet Modem myself and work out
> my own arrangements, but I do appreciate your concern.  Raising a debate
> only stirs up hot water when we don't need it.
>

Didn't mean to cause trouble.  As a (sometimes) professional
programmer, and frequent contributor to several open source projects,
I take licenses pretty seriously.  I love open code and create lots of
it (for better or worse) but I'm careful to keep things "pure" on that
side.  I can't see why the author would have any issue, but it's good
to make sure.


> --
> ~ Roger Taylor
>
>
>
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