               "WHY?"

That's the first question Marc Walters
   asks when I show him development
   versions of ASTERIX.
   "What use will it be?" is another.

Many coders who have experienced UNIX
   or it's clones do so at University
   or at College, as part of Comp.Sci,
   Maths or associated courses. We
   learn about all sorts of interesting
   things, and We being what we are,
   immediately go out and apply any
   ideas.

   Usually though, most people have
   "Upgraded" and their work ends up on
   a 16 bitter (or worse). I'm the
   Impoverished Undergrad so I'm forced
   to remain with this machine (Not
   that I don't mind, of course).

   Back in my wild youthful days (-:, I
   was a bit of a coder, and created
   tonnes of stuff (Demos, Compactors,
   etc). These projects require a fair
   amount of time to produce, so when
   it came to worry about study, etc,
   my output dropped significantly

   But this project is ideal for my
   situation. I can write (small)
   programs all the time, without
   having to sacrifice time needed for
   my studies. If I get a good idea for
   a 'GREP', I can get it done in only
   a day or so, compared to weeks or
   months for a demoprog, etc.


So I hope this explains my motives for
   creating this. I'm not intending to
   become another Ken Thompson or
   Dennis Ritchie, just an efficent
   'serious' C64 coder who has no
   intention of changing.


PS: ASTERIX is rather 'powerful' IMHO,
   a lot more maybe than CP/M. Problem
   is I'm not that good at writing
   (docs) so it's unlikely there will
   be a 'serious' release version.


---
Chris Baird, aka "Polar" "TCK"
24/2/1991
