Subj : Synchronet Source
To : Aragorn
From : Digital Man
Date : Mon Nov 29 1999 09:35 am
RE: Synchronet Source
BY: Aragorn to Tommyknocker on Fri Nov 27 1998 01:16 pm
> > The one on here came from Rob off the official Sync FTP site. I do bel
> > that it has everything excpet the compiler. Rod did intend for us tbe abl
> > continue with the project, that is why he gave up the code.
>
> Yes, everything needed to compile it _with_ the compiler Rob used, which is
> commercial and outdated... That's one of the major problems getting in the w
> of people wanting to work with the SBBS source...
At the time the source code was most substantially developed, Synchronet was a
commercial product which required the best compilers available for a given
task to remain competitive (that's why different compiler versions from
different manufacturers were used for different parts of the Synchronet
package).
Then, and in my opinion, still today, the best compilers available for the PC
platform were commercial (Borland and Microsoft's tools top my list today, but
at the time of Synchronet v2 development, Borland and Watcom were the best
tools for the task). This is simply the price you pay for features and
performance. The gnu tools (for example) are great tools for the price (free),
but pale in comparison to the productivity and performance offered by
commerical development tools.
A gnu port of the Synchronet source (for example) is not a trivial task, but
hardly impossible. 99% of the source is ANSI C and/or POSIX compliant and that
spells "portability". I've personally ported the released source code to the
latest Borland and Microsoft C/C++ compilers without much effort.
I'd like to imagine that the single "major problem" getting in the way of
people wanting to work with the SBBS source is that the software was already
stable and had all the features anyone could ever want. But in reality, I
believe it is simply a lack of sufficient desire. When I first started
modifying BBS source code (WWIV, back in the day), I didn't know the first
thing about programming in C, but my desire outweighed my lack of knowledge
and experience. The rest is history... :-)
This message isn't intended as a stab at anyone. I realize programming isn't
for everyone and there is an element of "natural talent" in good programmers.
All I'm saying is that you can't blame the source code for the lack of any
post-Digital Dynamics development. Speaking from first-hand knowledge, I can
tell you that the source code is extremely portable and in hind-site, was
pretty well-written. :-)
Rob
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