BJ> Since no one else stepped up to help with future Maximus source
 BJ> code development through the Source Forge site, 

 RJT> Nobody?  Wow.  I thought I'd remembered seeing some 
 RJT> interest expressed in this stuff...

While others may be interested, as far as I can tell no one else contacted
Scott to get listed for development access to the Maximus project on Source
Forge.  I now have that access.  I still need to get CVS setup on both my
OS/2 and Linux boxes.  If others have attempted to contact Scott but didn't
get a reply and are still interested in working on an update for Maximus,
let me know and we can talk about it privately.

 BJ> I have.....

 RJT> Cool.

 BJ> My current plans:

 BJ> (1)  Enhance the make scripts to support compiling for Unix type
 BJ> systems (i.e. Linux, FreeBSD, etc.).  I would like to not break
 BJ> existing target system compilation with these changes, and could
 BJ> eventually use some support testing compiling the code on other
 BJ> platforms.  If you are interested in helping, please let me know.

 RJT> I don't know how much help I could be,  but I have a 
 RJT> Slackware 8.0 system here that has a bunch of my bbs 
 RJT> stuff on it,  things like the files sections and such 
 RJT> just waiting for the executables to support the rest 
 RJT> of it...   :-)

Good.  I take it that when I'm finally ready for testing, you are
interested.  I also take it that you didn't like MBSE or some of the other
options out there.

...

 BJ> My goal is to be able to switch my Binkley / Maximus / Squish setup
 BJ> from OS/2 to a Linux based operating system.

 RJT> Hell,  I never did finish making the move to OS/2 
 RJT> here,  though I've made a bit of a start on it.

  OS/2 allowed me to get things done that still are not cleanly
available under a windows based box, at least not with as "free"
software as was possible under OS/2....  Or as stable as under OS/2....

 BJ> Due to other, higher priorities, this may take a while (read: Goal 
 BJ> to complete within two years.)

 RJT> Ok.  We all have our priorities to deal with.  :-)

 BJ> After reviewing the source code on a Linux based system, it will
 BJ> take some work to get it to compile there.  I believe all make 
 BJ> files will need editing due to the '\' vs '/' issue.  And the copy
 BJ> of dmake 4.0 that is packed with Maximus doesn't like to make a
 BJ> clean compile straight out of the box using it's linux option on a
 BJ> Debian/GNU Linux 3.0 system.

 RJT> I have Debian 3 here,  haven't played with it yet.

It has been interesting.  Debian 3.0r0, at least what I've attempted so
far, has trouble with using my PS/2 mouse (old) and detecting my sound
"card" (new).  And I have yet to attempt to deal with the USB
devices (new).  To get the USB support, and possibly other items, I may
need to go to 3.0r1 or experimental drivers, etc.  But from what I've
played with it, 3.0r0 is a nice system.  Still a couple of rough edges that
can bite....  Concerning the mouse, I've seen references to documentation
that should solve my problem, but I haven't found the actual document
(file) yet.  And for the sound card, I know there is something in the Linux
arena to handle it because the sound driver I have for OS/2 for the
hardware is a port from Linux code....  It's just a matter of find the
right files, compiling the kernel or kernel modules, etc., but it impacts
system stability for development efforts until issues are resolved.

 BJ> I'm also wanting to get the Open Watcom and EMX (GCC) compilers
 BJ> running on my OS/2 machine to help support the transition.  I'm
 BJ> still trying to setup my home enviornment to support the
 BJ> development effort required to reach my goal. 

 RJT> Dunno what to tell you about that.

I finally have Open Watcom 1.0beta installed on my OS/2 machine.  They have
done a good job with that package over the 0.95 alpha version that I had
previously looked at.  The documentation and headers missing from the 0.95
alpha have been filled in.  It looks like the 1.0beta is very usable, and
possibly allow for cross compiling Maximus for the current platforms (OS/2,
DOS and Win32).  But to get that far, I still need to pickup / install some
other items that Scott used to build and compile Maximus and Squish.  

 RJT> Maybe the LINUXBBS echo would also be a good place for this?

A note there may be good.  But I'd like to keep the Maximus development
aimed at supporting the existing OS's while I get it to also compile and
run in a Unix based environment....  So, Muffin is probably a better choice
for most of the discussion.

Take care.....

Bob Jones, 1:343/41
telnet://tophat.carktech.org

--- Maximus/2 3.01