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DR GEM (OpenGEM)

Re: DR GEM (OpenGEM)

"Terry Yager" wrote

> http://gem.shaneland.co.uk

Good to see that the Gem legacy is still going,
I'm a little concerned about that site, because
it doesn't plant a clear inpression as to when
all this software has been updated.

One of the few reasons I connected to the
internet was because of this & that the files
were huge (3 Mb), before then I was just
downloading stuff off the library's computer! ;-)

Cheers.
 
Re: DR GEM (OpenGEM)

"Terry Yager" wrote:

>> Good to see that the Gem legacy is still going,


> Yeah, that's what I thought when I found the
> site. (Now if only we could find a source for
> TopView...)

Not familar with TopView, what's that another
GUI?

Cheers.
 
Terry Yager said:
Yeah, sort of...I think it was distributed by IBM, but I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

Topview was a very forgettable IBM product. I had it and used it for a few microseconds in 1986±1, other products were far more useful.
 
"barryp" wrote:

>> Yeah, sort of...I think it was distributed by IBM,
>> but I could be wrong.

> Topview was a very forgettable IBM product. I
> had it and used it for a few microseconds in
> 1986±1, other products were far more useful.

Oh so it was done that late, so it looks like they
eventually scraped this idea for OS/2?

It makes be wonder what IBM think about this
whole GUI thing, after all they were once against
making any GUIs for the IBM. I guess there've
flipped their lid & thought it may not be such a
bad idea. After all they part contributed to OS/2
& even this Topview, which is earlier still.

I think you could blame the Mac for all this GUI
stuff, cause really it came out there first with
the plain Mac in 1984. This was around the same
time Microsoft started their Windows project.

Cheers.
 
barryp said:
Topview was a very forgettable IBM product. I had it and used it for a few microseconds in 1986±1, other products were far more useful.
Click to expand...

I have never had the privelege, tho I've always wanted to take it out for a spin around the block, check under the hood, kick the tires and slam the doors. So what is it exactly, a true GUI, or more of a file manager/Dos shell kinda thinggy?

--T
Click to expand...
 
Terry Yager said:
barryp said:
Topview was a very forgettable IBM product. I had it and used it for a few microseconds in 1986±1, other products were far more useful.
Click to expand...

I have never had the privelege, tho I've always wanted to take it out for a spin around the block, check under the hood, kick the tires and slam the doors. So what is it exactly, a true GUI, or more of a file manager/Dos shell kinda thinggy?
Click to expand...

I just remember that it was part of a list of hardware/software that we were directed to buy. I spent a few minutes with it and decided that we had wasted some of our money. Nobody else in the office was interested enough in it to experiment. I would call it a task switcher, no graphics. (IIRC)
Click to expand...
 
CP/M User said:
I think you could blame the Mac for all this GUI
stuff, cause really it came out there first with
the plain Mac in 1984. This was around the same
time Microsoft started their Windows project.
Click to expand...

The Mac was hardly the first GUI. Xerox had the Alto and it's family running at PARC and beyond several years before Apple came out with the Lisa. The Lisa pre-dated the Mac by over a year. . .

Erik
 
"Erik" wrote:

>> I think you could blame the Mac for all this GUI
>> stuff, cause really it came out there first with
>> the plain Mac in 1984. This was around the same
>> time Microsoft started their Windows project.

> The Mac was hardly the first GUI. Xerox had the
> Alto and it's family running at PARC and beyond
> several years before Apple came out with the
> Lisa. The Lisa pre-dated the Mac by over a year
> . . .

NO!! I didn't mean the Mac was the first computer
with GUI!! I mean't it was the first computer to be
competive with the IBM, sure Lisa came a year
before that, but with a $10,000 price tag & no
colour could hardly be called a threat to the IBMs!

Sure Mac didn't have colour either, but was much
more affordable, which is why I believe it was more
of a threat! :)

And please don't tell me about Steve Jobs visit to
Xerox, because I seemed to have been told it a
many times! ;-)

Cheers,
CP/M User.
 
"Terry Yager" wrote:

> I hate replying to my own posts but I have found
> the answer to my own question. <snip!>

Which is why the edit button comes in handy! ;-)

Though just replying to yourself, creates more
posts for the system! ;-)

Cheers.
 
"Terry Yager" wrote:

>> Topview was a very forgettable IBM product.

> Well, since it is an IBM product, the chances
> are slim that it'll ever be released as
> freeware...

Well it seems silly of IBM to be doing this. Here
we have this (possibly) rare piece of software,
which wouldn't have any chance of being sold,
if it was marketed as freeware & it could hardly
be high modified to attract all those Windows
users.

So, the way I see it is, if IBM choose not to
release it as freeware, then there will be no
support or interest in this software. IMO it's in
a worse position now, than if it were Freeware!

Cheers,
CP/M User.
 
I've searched all over the web and cannot find anyplace to d/l it. Mebbe I should try some of the abandonware usenet groups next. They seem to be a little less p'ticular about posting copyrighted stuff.

--T
 
"Terry Yager" wrote:

> I've searched all over the web and cannot
> find anyplace to d/l it. Mebbe I should try
> some of the abandonware usenet groups
> next. They seem to be a little less p'ticular
> about posting copyrighted stuff.

Yeah, Generally I find that commercial software
isn't on the web for very long. I've seen
abandonware sites come & go very quickly,
because the software is still copyrighted. As
far as I know, people who do this are warned
to take down the site & if they don't then more
drastic measures are taken. This would apply
for software which maybe 5-6 years old, but
even older software is too.

For CP/M which is provided through the Unoffical
CP/M Website, even though it's unoffical, the site
maintainer has got written permission from the
copyright owner to distribute the software. So
even though it's copyrighted, it's still fine to use
as long it's for personal use.

Cheers,
CP/M User.
 
I'm glad that CP/M is freely distributable now. Didja ever read DR's original licencing agreement? It is *non-transferable*, so whenever we bought a second-hand CP/M machine we were expected to pop for the software all over again. At least now I'm running legal after all these years.

--T
 
Terry Yager said:
I've searched all over the web and cannot find anyplace to d/l it.
Click to expand...

I would be very surprized if you find it. IBM probably watches that sort of thing very carefully.

FWIW: Many other programs do the "Top View" thing far better than IBM ever did. IMHO

Out of curiosity, why the interest?
 
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