https://forum.powerbasic.com/forum/announcements-articles-and-support-faqs/product-announcements/757277-powerbasic-has-a-new-home (https://forum.powerbasic.com/forum/announcements-articles-and-support-faqs/product-announcements/757277-powerbasic-has-a-new-home)
I notice I can't get into the forum :'(
I don't suppose there are any copies gbthreads or poffs around anywhere with an up to date database? My weekend project is now apparently too late.
this is unbelievable -- dead man walks again !
One of the Powerbasic Users had a company that sold programs to 10.000s of US Tax-Offices.
So his program was sold a lot of times and he earned more money then PB.
He solved the problem of PB beeing outdated and without support now shorthand.
He just bought the Source Code.
Seeing this situation, the outlook for PowerBasic for the next years is much bnetter then anybody would have expected in the last month.
Because Taxes will survive. And now they will pay for new PB-Versions :-)
QuoteSeeing this situation, the outlook for PowerBasic for the next years is much better then anybody would have expected in the last month.
??? :P ::)
:-X :-X :-X
I am not as enthusiastic as many on the PowerBASIC forum. With the sale I came to the realization the PowerBASIC I know, love, and most importantly trust is now officially dead. Anything that follows will be DrakeBasic not BobBasic. The Drake's are USERS of PowerBASIC not assembly compiler developers as far as I know. They do appear on the surface to have the capital to hire programmers, but how many compiler developers experienced in tasm32 are there out there? Or maybe Eric is correct in his 16bit dos app that creates a 32bit PB compiler that produces now a 32bit exe/dll?
James
Deutsch:
Ich denke man kann nicht wissen was dabei raus kommt! Wenn er ein guter Programmierer ist wird er sich schon rein finden! Was aber in Assembler schon recht schwierig ist! Ich arbeite gerade wieder an meinen Konsolen Tools die auch in Assembler geschrieben sind! Musste eigentlich nur ein Datenstruktur Byte auf ein Word erweitern. Ich denke ich bin noch ein halbes Jahr beschäftigt bis ich alle Fehler beseitigt habe! Also viel Glück!!!!
Englisch
I think you can not know what comes out! If he's a good programmer, he'll find it! But what is really difficult in assembler! I am working again on my console tools which are also written in Assembler! Just had to expand a data structure byte to a Word. I think I'm still half a year busy until I've eliminated all the mistakes! So good luck !!!!
Because i am one of those half brain (hello Mister ZALE), i am looking forward to learn more about the real motivation of the new owner.
...
Many of us knows that Bob Zale was a character, I've seen him badly unfair with many.
Well let's face it, if it's true that you are a half brain guy,
then you got three of them, it's not too bad. :-) :-) :-)
I guess that we all expect the new owner to share his vision for the next couple of years.
I'm absolutely not a fan of the so called "no vavorware" politic that keep everybody in the dark.
Anyhow, it's a real good news for now. And I think that they may be much more interested in 64 than Bob was.
In a sense, they have to, for their businees to keep up to date, and it's already late.
Que sera sera
QuoteIn a sense, they have to, for their businees to keep up to date, and it's already late.
If this is true, then i know several solutions that would have helped them.
But perhaps, the new PowerBASIC Boss is just an altruist guy wanting to rescue the beached whales.
;D
Quote from: Patrice Terrier on February 08, 2017, 09:36:46 AMBut perhaps, the new PowerBASIC Boss is just an altruist guy wanting to rescue the beached whales.
;D
.. which wouldn't be bad news at all from the beached whales' perspective, would it?
Quote.. which wouldn't be bad news at all from the beached whales' perspective, would it?
That's for sure, and i just hope for them that they will be rescued before their passing.
I realy hope that somebody would be able to take over ZALE's code, but knowing the man since the time of CompuServe and PBDK, i am very pessimistic.
Hi Patrice,
To make this clear to me,
do you mean that the code is written in a so cryptic and personal way that it's almost impossible to decipher?
If so, is this impression based on something else than the personality of Bob Zale?
Pierre
ZALE's code originates from the Bordland time (TASM), and even if it has been ported to MASM it is something very hard to read for non-initiate.
Bob never delegates on that part, except with Dave Navarro a long time ago.
Before his passing Bob was very sick, and he couldn't work anymore 24 hours a day, this is probably the reason why the 64-bit beta never started.
There are many things to be aware when moving from 32 to 64-bit, especially for those using DDT's code.
While a 64-bit SDK only would have been a first step, the DDT'ers are the beached whales especting that they will have just to recompile their code to have it working in 64, but that is not the way it works.
Thus do not underestimate the amount of pedagogy to learn them what to do.
I knew several people that had seen and worked on Bob's code, they said it was unusually well organised and commented so, when Drake took over I asked Phil Drake for his opinion:
https://forum.powerbasic.com/forum/announcements-articles-and-support-faqs/product-announcements/757277-powerbasic-has-a-new-home?p=757289#post757289 (https://forum.powerbasic.com/forum/announcements-articles-and-support-faqs/product-announcements/757277-powerbasic-has-a-new-home?p=757289#post757289)
Quote from: Pierre Bellisle on February 08, 2017, 05:04:34 PM
...the code is written in a so cryptic and personal way that it's almost impossible to decipher?
If so, is this impression based on something else than the personality of Bob Zale?
Marc--
Over 400,000 lines of ASSEMBLER to decipher, then better to not have a faint heart, and be ready to accept no social nor family life for monthes, without forgetting a good coffee machine close to hand. 8)
"Like a beached whale" meaning by thefreedictionary.com:
Completely stuck and unable to move or escape from the situation.
Yep,
No doubt, this is a real challenge.
From my perspective the situation was quite desperate when
Tom Hanlin was responsible for the development.
(Sorry Tom, you didn't keep your promise to the community and never explained why, hence my deception)
I do not expect 64 before three years or so in my wildest dreams.
Five years minimum might be more reasonable.
So, like many, I will continue to develop in parallel mainly with another language to have access to a 64bit compiler.
The risk is that after all this time, I had become so familiar with my current 32/64bit compiler that I won't need anything else.
This said, I will give time to this new player, who spent time and money to acquire PowerBASIC,
so he can show the world what he can do.
One thing for sure, the way I see this, the situation is much better than it was a few days ago. ;-)
Pierre
QuoteOne thing for sure, the way I see this, the situation is much better than it was a few days ago.
Or it couldn't be worse, but perhaps they have found a Wizard to work on it, and to paraphrase Trump, make PowerBASIC great again, who knows ;)
I wish them a couple of "Paul Dixon", pretty rare stuff but not non-existent.
Pierre
Quote from: Pierre Bellisle on February 08, 2017, 09:18:45 PMI do not expect 64 before three years or so in my wildest dreams.
Five years minimum might be more reasonable.
No, things aren't as bad actually. If you'd like to listen to someone who has practical experience in compiler development in relation to BASIC, Asm and stuff, then I'd estimate a feasible time frame between now and beta release of a fully functional 32-bit PowerBASIC cross-compiler (regardless of asm bitness and/or flavor of Bob Zale's legacy) capable of emitting 32- and 64-bit executables from the common x86/x64 code base to be on the order of 10 to 12 months
provided the Drakes do not attempt "wrapping their heads around Bob's assembler code" using their in-house PB/SAP/Sage/whatever programmers and general-purpose IT specialists, to say nothing of shrinking this activity to a sub-subsidiary status or someone's leisure time altogether.
A successful 370+ strong US resident company is surely in a position to hire a team of 3 (worse) to 5 (better) dedicated developers with a strong BASIC background proficient in assembly and compiler development, to quickly catch up on all the years lost while PB was idle -- even if the entire team were born Bay Area or NYC residents by their living standards and salary expectations. We are talking here about the instrument the company's entire success has been built on, after all.
Quite interesting Mike, I've set a self memo for 2018-02-08.
I will be back in one year for sure...
Se you later,
Pierre
Quote from: Pierre Bellisle on February 09, 2017, 02:04:20 AM
Quite interesting Mike, I've set a self memo for 2018-02-08.
I will be back in one year for sure...
Se you later,
Pierre
IS ALIVE in the year 2018 you
I Stefan,
I'm not sure to follow you. Can you elaborate?
Pierre
Quote from: Pierre Bellisle on February 09, 2017, 05:05:12 PM
I Stefan,
I'm not sure to follow you. Can you elaborate?
Pierre
that was a joke.
You have planned to check in 2018 if PowerBasic has done something..
my question
How do they know they are still living in 2018?
I am living now
Not in 2018 ;)
q> that was a joke
A very good one I must admit... ;-)
In fact i have talked to Semen M. (the older here may know him).
He said, that its possible to make the new 64 bit compiler "in no time", if the 32-bit ASM-Code is available.
So its a question of getting the right Wizzards for the Job.
People who have that special visual Brain with code-structure in it.
Like Jose, Semen, Hutch, Paul, Pierre and few others.
If you take some average "just available programmers" it may get a longer and more troublesome Journey. We will say what they do.
Keep our fingers cross and hold your hands together, let us pray for divine help for pb inc?
I'm sure that there are many capable masm programers around that pb inc can rope in to complete
Bob's meticulous code.
QuoteIn fact i have talked to Semen M. (the older here may know him).
Hey Theo - Why don't you say hi from us and let him update us with what he is doing these days.
I did. :-)