[GEM Development] [GEM-DEV] GEM 32

[David Ormand]

I have been thinking about this for some time also.

My interest is maintaining GEM as _the_ GUI for DOS.  Having GEM under 
Linux is fine, and a great alternative to X, but not if it moves it away 
from being useful under DOS.

Now, seems to me if you move towards Linux, you are moving towards using 
GCC.  We already have a GCC for DOS, namely, DJGPP.  Seems to me the 
first step is "porting" GEM to compile using DJGPP.  From what I've 
heard, this could be a bit of a challenge, since GEM/AES/VDI are kind of 
a "mixed bag".  I've got the sources, but I haven't looked at them 
carefully.  If GCC/DJGPP is too difficult, OpenWatcom can generate 
32-bit code for both DOS and Linux.  And Windows, like CygWin or MinGW.  
I don't think a 16-bit compiler like Borland is the right path to 32 bits.

A public-domain OS like MMURTL is interesting, but we already have 
FreeDOS and Linux OSes (and BSDs), and anyways, it appears that MMURTL 
involves the use of yet another non-standard (and apparently non-free) 
compiler.

Any of the old-timers, was there ever an attempt to "standardize" the 
build environment on something up-to-date or in common use?

Seems the next step then is taking advantage of the native 32-bit video 
resources.  Under Linux, there are the wide array of device drivers.  
Under DOS, there are various graphics libraries, such as GRX or MGRX, 
that already have DJGPP ports.

I realize this hand-waving in ignorance is easy, but any project would 
have a better chance of success of attracting participants with a clear 
path and objective.  I know I would enjoy participating!

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