RL>will probably end up using GNU (because it's free) at least
I just had to use the gcc-emx (gnu) compiler off CD-ROM. Not bad, for
 free. 2/94 'Hobbes' OS/2 CD-ROM has it pre-loaded and ready to run off
 CD, along with tons of other useful stuff (incl. certain 'redbooks') 
under $20 by mail. 8/94 Hobbes is all ZIP files, so you'd need more
hard drive space, but get newer versions of some stuff.

RL>start with the word DOS (DosCreateThread, etc...) that have 
RL>nothing whatsoever to do with dos emulation

Yep. Bothersome at first.

RL>wondering how do you learn them?  (No, I'm not shelling out 
RL>$800 bucks to get IBM's red books.  If I had $800 bucks to 
RL>waste I'd get a magneto-optical drive, or 16 megs of ram

16MB is cheaper than that. In general, "red books" is a catch phrase 
that refers to some IBM documents on the design of OS/2 2.0, and they
 are well-distributed in electronic form, on the Hobbes CD, etc.  The 
whole set of IBM C/C++ programming documents is likely quite pricey, 
although a bunch of that type stuff is on an IBM CD that's under $100.

As others have recommended, "Real World Programming for OS/2..." is
IN  PRINT and available for your perusal at any good bookstore. Cheaper
than $800, and comes with a small magnetic-only disk full of examples.
 
RL>I've heard that some guy named peltzold is supposed to have 
RL>written a good book.  Is it, and what's it called?

Yes, for 1990, it was a good book, but he's been writing about
Windows  NT for quite some time (in PC Magazine), and the new book has
not kept  up well with the 2 releases of OS/2 since.

___
 X KWQ/2 1.2e X ND27: good enough for grandpa, good enough for me.

--- Maximus/2 2.01wb