Executor 2.0/executorv2.0.iso/pc/dos/extra/docs/maillist/text/archive.96/text0411.txt

Text File | 1996-07-25 | 22.5 KB | 506 lines

Being a fervent UNIX-on-a-home-PC advocate, I naturally want to shun DOS
or Windows or its ilk.  I will celebrate the day when I can finally
remove DOS and Windows from my machine, and move all of my daily (and
not-so-daily) computing tasks to UNIX.

However, being a realist, I recognize that there are many tasks I still
need to do that do not have good UNIX-based implementation.  Such as,
word processing, spreadsheets, contact managers, et al.  Some of these are
available in UNIX, but not all -- for example, I have yet to find a
decent X11-based word processor, and the text-based tools I've found are
great for writing notes and memos and stuff, but don't cut it for *real*
document preparation.  (And, before you say it, yes I have heard of TeX
and friends, and have tried them, but found them too confusing.  I'm
hopelessly stuck on GUI's.)

WINE looked promising, but sadly it is not very practicable: just about
all it can run is Solitare.  (Which is great -- I always liked the
Windows Solitare game better than any other I've found on DOS, Windows,
Mac, or UNIX).

Willows (TWIN) looks good too, and I've even heard reports (albeit
second-hand) that say Microsoft Word runs under it.  Too bad it's only
available in Linux-ELF format.  (I run FreeBSD, which can run a lot of
Linux stuff in emulation, but NOT ELF.)

So, naturally, I jumped for joy when I heard of Executor.  Not only was
it really cool to be able to run Mac stuff on my PC, but hey, now I can
run Microsoft Word, Excel, all those goodies on an Executor window!!
Never mind that I'm still not running them UNIX-native (some day!), but
at least now I don't have to endure the humiliation and shame of having
to re-boot into DOS/Windows every time I need to do something mundane,
like do my monthly finances.  Plus, now I can get rid of my 500 MB DOS
partition and put it to some real use, like recompiling X11R6 or getting
a full newsfeed or something.

I consulted the AppNotes file, to see if it would support any of the
applications I would need to do productive work, but unfortunately it
generated more questions than it answered.  Sure, some of my programs
(i.e. Microsoft Word) were shown as "yellow" status, which basically
means they MOSTLY run but might have problems.  And some of my programs
have cryptic comments like "stw" and "ntm" after them.  Huh??

So, my question to this list is: I have here a list of programs that I'll
need to run to do my daily chores.  They don't have to be these EXACT
programs -- if some other program does the same job, and runs better
under Executor, great.  Also it doesn't have to be the exact latest
version -- if the latest version doesn't work, but a previous one will,
that's cool too.  I'm sure I can find some guy on Usenet who wants to
make some quick cash and get rid of the aging versions of his software.

But, basically, how well do these programs run under Executor?  Which
features work, and which ones don't?  Will they work enough so that I can
be mostly productive, or will I just end up with a lot of headaches?  I
don't mean it has to be perfect -- I'm not some Fortune 500 company that
demands 100% perfect software/hardware performance or else I'll lose
millions of dollars.  Just as long as I can get some work done.

Performance isn't that cruicial to me; all I care is whether it runs or not.

Anyway, here are the tasks I need to perform, and the programs I'd prefer
to use.  Again, doesn't have to be that exact program, and doesn't have
to be the latest version of it.

* Word processing:  Microsoft Word.
* Spreadsheet:  Microsoft Excel.
* Database:  Filemaker Pro
* Banking:  Quicken
* Small business accounting:  QuickBooks
* Scheduler:         \   I use Expresso/Stardate by Berkeley Systems to
* Name/address book:  \  do these, but I don't know if a Mac version is
* To-Do list:         /  available.  If one is, and it works, great.  If
* Contact manager:   /   not, I can probably use a database for the other
                         stuff, but I will still need a calendar program.
* Desktop publishing:  PageMaker

Please respond either to me ([e-mail]) or the Executor list.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

Donald Burr [[e-mail]], PO Box 91212, Santa Barbara CA 93190-1212
TEL [phone] / FAX [phone] / WWW http://www.geopages.com/WallStreet/2072
PGP Public Key available by request (send e-mail) or on Public Key Servers.
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I just thought I'd pass along the following hints 'n tips in using
Executor in a FreeBSD environment.

First of all, it IS possible.  The FreeBSD Linux emulation code, even the
2.0.5 version, is more than adequate to run it.  2.1 is quite good for
me.  CURRENT/SNAP/STABLE/etc. versions are probably even better.

Unfortunately, the Linux sound support doesn't work.  But that's just
about the only thing that doesn't.

Since the FreeBSD console driver does not work at all with Linux SVGALIB,
the SVGALIB version of Executor doesn't run, even if you have the svgalib
shared library installed.

Several error messages are generated, that can be safely ignored.  They
are mainly annoyances.  Here are the messages that can be ignored:

syslog() not supported (BSD sigreturn)
LINUX: 'ioctl' fd=6, typ=0x53(S), num=0xb not implemented
LINUX: 'ioctl' fd=13, typ=0x450(P), num=0xa not implemented

You will need to install the "bash" shell (it's available as part of the
FreeBSD packages/ports collection).  It installs into /usr/local/bin, but
Executor expects it to be in /bin.  A simple symlink will suffice,
though.  As root, type:  ln -s /usr/local/bin/bash /bin/bash

Even though bash is installed, Executor still needs to have the "type"
command.  It needs this program in order to support printing directly
to a printer.  If it can't run it, it will just print to a file in
/tmp.  Why doesn't the bash built-in "type" command get executed?  This
is because Executor doesn't specifically run the bash shell to execute
it, but instead it runs the standard shell "sh".  In Linux, this is no
problem, since sh is usually a link to bash anyway.  But, FreeBSD uses
the real Bourne shell, which does not have the "type" command built-in.
So, what I did is wrote a simple shell script to emulate it.  Put this
script anywhere in your path (/usr/local/bin/type is where I stuck it),
and make sure it's executable (chmod 755 type).

#!/bin/sh
exec bash -c "type $*"

And this is it.  The program works flawlessly with these modifications.
(Even without them, the program still worked, although printing directly
to a printer didn't work, and some odd error messages from the /bin/sh
shell were displayed).

I once again wish to thank the Executor team for a GREAT product, and
the FreeBSD team for a GREAT OS.  Keep up the good work, all of you!

Donald Burr [[e-mail]], PO Box 91212, Santa Barbara CA 93190-1212
TEL [phone] / FAX [phone] / WWW http://www.geopages.com/WallStreet/2072
PGP Public Key available by request (send e-mail) or on Public Key Servers.
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From owner-paper Mon Feb 12 13:07:47 1996
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>>>>> "Donald" == Donald Burr <[e-mail]> writes:

> * Word processing:  Microsoft Word.

Microsoft Word 5.1 works really well, except there are some problems
with the thesaurus.  We're working on it.  Word 6 doesn't work at all.

* Spreadsheet:  Microsoft Excel.

Excel 4 works well.  Excel 5 doesn't work at all.

* Database:  Filemaker Pro

FileMaker Pro 2.1 works; I don't know about 3.0.  We don't have a copy
of 3.0.

* Banking:  Quicken

My understanding is that Quicken 4 & 5 work...some of our customers
use that under Linux to balance their checkbooks.  A few users have
complained of crashes in Quicken's nooks and crannies, but we haven't
been able to reproduce them.  Quicken 6 is working "in the lab",
except that some icons don't show up because we have not yet written
`PlotIconID'.  That's a high priority though.  I expect Quicken 6 to
work in the next full Executor release, although we haven't tested it
much over here so it's still possible it will try to use some
difficult-to-add feature.

* Small business accounting:  QuickBooks

I haven't heard of it.

* Scheduler:         \   I use Expresso/Stardate by Berkeley Systems to
* Name/address book:  \  do these, but I don't know if a Mac version is
* To-Do list:         /  available.  If one is, and it works, great.  If
* Contact manager:   /   not, I can probably use a database for the other
                         stuff, but I will still need a calendar program.

I don't know (other ARDI folks might).

* Desktop publishing:  PageMaker

My understanding is that PageMaker 4.2 works pretty well.

I'd guess you probably don't have copies of many of these programs yet
(you wouldn't want to buy them if they won't work under Executor).
However, if you *do* have copies of any of them, feel free to give
them a try under the free Executor demo.

-Mat

From owner-paper Mon Feb 12 14:15:18 1996
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On Mon, 12 Feb 1996, Mat Hostetter wrote:

> I'd guess you probably don't have copies of many of these programs yet
> (you wouldn't want to buy them if they won't work under Executor).
> However, if you *do* have copies of any of them, feel free to give
> them a try under the free Executor demo.

Thanks for all the helpful information!  You're right in assuming that I
don't have any of these programs yet.  I wanted to ask in order to save
money, since it would be pretty frustrating to buy a program and not have
it work.  Especially since most software houses don't do refunds.  And
the info about certain versions working/not working helps too; I can no
doubt scrounge up an older, used copy of Word, Excel, etc. on Usenet and
not only save some money, but actually get something that works.

I'm very happy with Executor, not only the product itself but the ARDI
staff.  My questions have always been answered promptly and courteously,
and your resources (FAQ, Web pages, etc.) are superb.  I have "put my
money where my mouth is" -- be expecting a check and order for in the
mail from me! :)

Donald Burr [[e-mail]], PO Box 91212, Santa Barbara CA 93190-1212
TEL [phone] / FAX [phone] / WWW http://www.geopages.com/WallStreet/2072
PGP Public Key available by request (send e-mail) or on Public Key Servers.
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On Mon, 12 Feb 1996, Mat Hostetter wrote:

> That's some great information!  We didn't anticipate people running
> Executor/Linux on non-Linux systems, so as you noticed we assume the
> presence of bash here and there.  We should fix that.

You should also mention (in the FAQ, perhaps elsewhere) that in the UNIX
ports (Linux, and probably NeXTstep too) that when you enter your serial
number, you'll have to run Executor as root, since it modifies itself and
(presumably) only root has write access to the file itself.  It sounds to
me (from available documentation) that this is how Executor records it's
new serial number, if this is not the case then please ignore my
attempted suggestion.

Donald Burr [[e-mail]], PO Box 91212, Santa Barbara CA 93190-1212
TEL [phone] / FAX [phone] / WWW http://www.geopages.com/WallStreet/2072
PGP Public Key available by request (send e-mail) or on Public Key Servers.
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From owner-paper Mon Feb 12 14:29:32 1996
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>>>>> "D" == Donald Burr <[e-mail]> writes:


D> Such as, word processing, spreadsheets, contact managers, et al.

Let me preface this by saying that I'm speaking from the position of a
Linux user, but since you can run many of the binaries under FreeBSD...

I believe that WordPerfect is now available for Linux.  I'm not sure
if you can get it outside the Caldera bundle, but I'm planning on
looking in to it.

Also, I think, there are some pretty good spreadsheets.  Try looking
in an issue of the Linux Journal.  Many of the commercial advertizers
can be found there.

D> liked the Windows Solitare game better than any other I've found on
D> DOS, Windows, Mac, or UNIX).

I saw xpat2 last night, and it looked pretty good...

D> only available in Linux-ELF format.  (I run FreeBSD, which can run
D> a lot of Linux stuff in emulation, but NOT ELF.)

If you ever decide to try Linux, check out the debian distribution.
It has a really nice package system so you can install programs to try
them out and then "purge" them if you don't like them.

D> But, basically, how well do these programs run under Executor?

I can vouch for Quicken 5 to some extent.  It has been working fine
for me in light usage.

D> some Fortune 500 company that demands 100% perfect
D> software/hardware performance or else I'll lose millions of
D> dollars.

You're runnning a more stable setup than most of them...

--
Rob

From owner-paper Mon Feb 12 14:35:59 1996
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I'm experiencing some weirdness when printing files in Executor.  I'm
running Executor/Linux on a FreeBSD machine with Linux emulation
software, but I doubt that's the problem.

I've installed one of those "magic filter" gizmos that automagically
determine what type of file is being printed, and invoke a proper filter
to process it.  This is because my printer (Epson Stylus Color) is not a
PostScript printer, but I want to be able to type "lpr foo.ps" or choose
the PRINT command in an application (i.e. Netscape) and have the file
print out properly.

When I print from Executor, however, here's what happens.  I only have
three applications I can print from.

First I tried printing some files in Tex-Edit.  I tried both the "Welcome
to Tex-Edit", the "Tex-Edit Revision History", and a text file of my own
making.  All files printed OK, but only used about the top 2/3 of the
page (8.5x11).  The "Welcome to Tex-Edit" has both color and B/W
graphics; the color ones did not print at all, whereas the B/W ones did.
I guess Executor doesn't support color graphics printing?

I then tried printing the "Compact Pro User's Guide" file, which is one
of those "self-contained document" applications.  It printed OK, used up
all the page, but the bottom of the page was always cut off -- that is,
the last line on the page had only the top 2/3 or so printed.  This looks
like a problem with Ghostscript not printing the entire page area?

Printing from BBEdit Lite 3.x does not work at all.  It appears to
generate improper PostScript, since I can't even run the file through
ghostscript or ghostview by hand.

My copy of MS Word, etc. has not arrived yet, so unfortunately I don't have
any *real* apps to test with this.

Is anyone else having these problems?  Can anyone suggest a solution?
Please let me know.  Thanks!

Donald Burr [[e-mail]], PO Box 91212, Santa Barbara CA 93190-1212
TEL [phone] / FAX [phone] / WWW http://www.geopages.com/WallStreet/2072
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From owner-paper Mon Feb 12 14:44:49 1996
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i can say Pagemaker 4.2 runs very well under Executor. No crashes or bugs
that I can see. (Except for highlighting text sometimes)

From owner-paper Mon Feb 12 15:09:00 1996
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mat,
    I can get filemaker Pro 3.0 to work on executor!  You have to do a
custom install and don't install the help files.  If you do that, it will
work.   there seems to be a problem when you tell it to install the help files!

    By the way I installed it from a dual format PC/Mac formatted CD!

                hugh McLenaghan




>* Database:  Filemaker Pro
>
>FileMaker Pro 2.1 works; I don't know about 3.0.  We don't have a copy
>of 3.0.