[GEM Development] OpenGEM FAQ

Thu Jul 21 12:01:38 PDT 2005

Shane M. Coughlan wrote:
> I have been preparing a new OpenGEM FAQ based on the PC GEM FAQ.  Any
> comments or ideas are welcome.

> ***************************************************************************
> 1.2   What is FreeGEM?
> ***************************************************************************

>   There is no single version of GEM called FreeGEM, though all the GPL GEM
>   releases are part of the FreeGEM Development effort.  Some examples are
>   Shane Land OpenGEM <http://gem.shaneland.co.uk/> and Owen's FreeGEM 1.2
>   <http://www.owenrudge.net/GEM/>.

You probably ought to reword this. Since there is no prior mention of 
Owen, it seems overly familiar to simply casually mention him by first 
name alone. Suggestion: borrow the definition from the next question.

e.g.

"FreeGEM is the umbrella term for all the modified and improved 
components of the GEM desktop which have resulted as part of the GPL GEM 
development effort. There are several "distributions" of GEM using 
FreeGEM code, including OpenGEM and Owen Rudge's FreeGEM 1.2 
<http://www.owenrudge.net/GEM/>."

> ***************************************************************************
> 1.3   What is OpenGEM?
> ***************************************************************************
> 
>   OpenGEM is a FreeGEM distribution.  It contains a collection of DR GEM
>   and FreeGEM code, is released under the GPL license.  It is actively
>   developed by Shane Land, a site run by Shane M. Coughlan.
> 
>   OpenGEM is the main FreeGEM distribution.  It is designed to be easy to
>   install and use, and is tested to work with virtually all versions of
>   DOS.
> 
>   There are three versions of OpenGEM:
> 
>   OpenGEM Core
>   OpenGEM Core is not a complete OpenGEM distribution. It contains the
>   core GUI of OpenGEM, but none of the applications like word processing,
>   DTP etc. It is intended to help you manage your files, and it can be
>   upgraded to include more GEM applications and features through packages
>   that will be made available on the OpenGEM website.

Suggest a comparison to ViewMax, e.g.

"OpenGEM Core can be compared to DR's ViewMax file manager for DR-DOS 6 
& 7 - see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ViewMAX

However, unlike ViewMax, OpenGEM Core can be expanded into a full GEM 
desktop, capable of running applications."

> ***************************************************************************
> 1.3.1   What is GEMini?
> ***************************************************************************
> 
>   GEMini is a FreeGEM distribution.  It contains a collection of DR GEM
>   and FreeGEM code, is released under the GPL license.
> 
>   GEMini is a small FreeGEM distribution.  It is designed to be easy to
>   install and use, and is tested to work with virtually all versions of
>   DOS.  It is intended to work as a powerful file commander tool.
> 
>   GEMini is based on OpenGEM, and has now been replaced by OpenGEM Core.
> 
>   The Shane Land OpenGEM homepage is <http://gem.shaneland.co.uk>
>   You can get more information by emailing gem at shaneland.co.uk

Isn't GEMini now dead & superseded?

> ***************************************************************************
> 2.1.1  Does OpenGEM run on FreeDOS?
> ***************************************************************************
> 
>   OpenGEM is known to work with FreeDOS.  It can be downloaded from
>   <http://gem.shaneland.co.uk/>.

That's ambiguous. What can be downloaded? FreeGEM or FreeDOS?

Since you've already mentioned download points & they already *have* 
OpenGEM at this point if they're reading its README, this link is 
redundant. I'd suggest removal.

You might also want to link to other free DOSes such as OpenDOS.

>   To ensure FreeGEM/OpenGEM will work on FreeDOS you are advised to download
>   the latest version of the FreeDOS software.  It can be found at
>   <http://www.freedos.org/>.
> 
> ***************************************************************************
> 2.1.2  Does OpenGEM run on Windows 3.x/9x/ME/NT/2000/XP?
> ***************************************************************************
> 
>   GEM has no problems running in a Windows 9x DOS session although it does
>   prefer to be run in DOS mode only; trying to run it in a DOS box can
>   result in some unusual screen behaviour. It doesn't appear to run in an
>   NT4 DOS box at all.

Again, ambiguous. You should reword this to clarify whether you mean a 
full-screen MS-DOS session as opposed to one running in a window, or 
whether you mean "MS-DOS Compatibility Mode"; if the latter, which I 
think you are, you should use MS' exact wording & capitalisation. You 
might want to tell people how to modify the PIF file to enable this.

> ***************************************************************************
> 2.2   Which version of OpenGEM should I install?
> ***************************************************************************
> 
>   This is really dependent on your requirements.
> 
>   The current main FreeGEM is distribution is OpenGEM, which includes
>   most major FreeGEM code and original GEM applications.  It is available
>   for free download from <http://gem.shaneland.co.uk>
> 
>   There are three versions of OpenGEM to choose from:
> 
>   OpenGEM Core offers a small GEM environment tested on modern machines.
> 
>   OpenGEM Complete offers the same base as OpenGEM Core, and includes
>   all the known PC GEM applications.
> 
>   OpenGEM Experimental is functionally identical to OpenGEM Core, but
>   uses more of the FreeGEM experimental code to provide the AES and VDI.

You've already covered this, but the duplication is harmless in case 
someone's skipping through to numbered sections.

> ***************************************************************************
> 3.2.1  Are there any commercial applications for GEM?
> ***************************************************************************
> 
>   Many of the third-party applications originally developed for PC-GEM have
>   never been released to the FreeGEM community and some may still be
>   available commercially. Ken Mauro's excellent document, GEMNOTES.TXT,
>   available from GEMWorld, details many of these packages. 

Give a direct URL!

> ***************************************************************************
> 3.2.2  Are there any new free applications for GEM?
> ***************************************************************************
> 
>   There are several new applications for GEM.  GEMP3 is a music player.
>   SCGEM is a spreadsheet.  You can find these applications in the
>   OpenGEM Complete distribution of GEM.

If those are all, say so. If they are not, say "such as" or "including" 
or "for example".

> ***************************************************************************
> 3.4  Can any Atari GEM Applications be run on OpenGEM?
> ***************************************************************************
> 
>   No. Some applications were written for both the Atari ST and the PC but
>   the binaries are very distinct and will not run on the other platform.
> 
>   There are several ST emulators which can run Atari ST GEM applications
>   and while these could feasibly be launched from PC GEM, there is curently
>   no GEM-based ST emulator.

Links!

At the very least, ARAnyM, which is the best around. You should also 
mention MAGIC/PC though.

> ***************************************************************************
> 4.1   What is the VDI?
> ***************************************************************************
> 
>   The VDI is the Virtual (check this, might be Visual, not sure at the
> moment)

That shouldn't be in the final document!

>   VDI are pointer handling (the mouse driver in GEM is incorporated into the
>   individual displayd drivers) 

Typo

> ***************************************************************************
> 4.3.1   What is the .GEM file format?
> ***************************************************************************

> METAFIL6.SYS (not
>   sure about other versions).

That's a bit informal for a final doc.

> ***************************************************************************
> 5.1    Where can I find the GEM source code?
> ***************************************************************************
> 
>   The starting point for any GEM development should be the OpenGEM SDK,
>   which contains all the known PC GEM source code, binary, documentation
>   and resources.  You can download the OpenGEM SDK from the Shane Land
>   OpenGEM site <http://gem.shaneland.co.uk/>

Do you normally put a space in that?

> 
> ***************************************************************************
> 5.2.1  How do I compile the source code?
> ***************************************************************************
> 
>   This depends on the component in question; the documentation supplied
> in the
>   various source archives is the best place to find the answer.

Side-stepping the question. Are instructions included in the SDK? Are 
the tools included in the SDK? If so, say so & provide links to them. If 
not, provide links here.

> ***************************************************************************
> 5.3.1  What are "bindings"?
> ***************************************************************************

>   For instance, the DRI C bindings consist of a set of header files and
> a set
>   of libraries the developer links his object files against.  

While probably true, "his" is sex-specific. Suggest "they"/"their".

> ***************************************************************************
> 5.3.2  What bindings currently exist?
> ***************************************************************************
> 
>   There are original bindings for Borland Turbo C, Microsoft C, Lattice
>   C, Metaware High C, Borland Turbo Pascal, DRI Pascal MT+, IBM PROFORT
>   Fortran 77,

Erroneous comma?

>   Owen Rudge has written sound driver bindings for Heinz Rath's sound
>   driver. These support Turbo C 1.01, Borland C 4.51, Pacific C and
>   Watcom C/C++ 10.6 as well as MS QuickBASIC 4.5.

URL?

> ***************************************************************************
> 6.1  Where to find OpenGEM resources on the Internet
> ***************************************************************************
> 
>   The main starting point for OpenGEM resources or help is the official
>   Shane Land OpenGEM site

Guess the space is consistent, then...

-- 
Liam Proven
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