Meeting Notes, May/June 1989

The effect on me of bringing the wrong power cable to the May meeting 
was interesting.  I was at a loss!  I wanted to be able to demonstrate 
the software on -alpha.008, a Royal-formatted disk which has on it 
what I consider to be as close as you can get to 300k of Public Domain 
software at its best.  How dependent on my computer I have allowed 
myself to become!  How challenged I became to try to explain the 
material on this disk.  Without the "aid" of a monitor I was forced to 
provide extra detail.  Gabor Szikla liked meeting.  He learned a few 
things he said to me.  I am always happy when I hear this kind of 
thing!

For the record, I would like to put down on paper the files on this 
disk and perhaps a short sentence or two about them.  With the June 
issue disk-based, I see this as a prime opportunity to include the 
machine-readable software, documentation etc. etc. as part of the 
"newsletter".  Keeping with a desire to separate Meeting Notes and 
other stuff, I will do this elsewhere.  (See file BESTOF.CPM).

Al Hathway had a reprint of a book called "The CP/M Primer" by 
Murtha and Waite.  He had never seen it before and as he read thru it 
felt it would be useful to the newer members.  The Second Edition of 
this book came with the Royal computer for those who bought it from 
Railroad Salvage.  I have written a letter to the publisher asking for 
permission to print in the hardcopy edition of Pieces of 8 one of the 
(many marvellous) drawings in this book.  I have also asked them if 
the book is still in print and if not if it would be OK if we made 
copies of the most useful and introductory parts of it.  Reinhard 
May's comments about this book are interesting;  Now that he knows a 
bit more about his computer (thru CCP/M membership) he feels he may be 
able to get more out of the book than he did when he first tried.

Tom Veile reported that our coffers hold $1259.21.  The last 
newsletter was expensive.  As you can see, we have been putting out a 
pamphlet.  And I sent out about 50 complimentary issues last month 
because I thought the issue was particularly good and that it was 
about time this kind of effort were made to attract some of the people 
that have expressed an interest in CCP/M either by once being members 
or by leaving their name on some meeting attendance list.  Hope we get 
a few people to (re-)join thru this mailing blitz.  The expense of 
printing will all but disappear with the new disk-based format.  We 
will have hard copy of Pieces of 8 available at the Farmington meeting 
but to save about 75 cents per issue we will not be sending hardcopy 
in the mail.

As I write this I am beginning to realize the implications of what I 
am saying.  I again appeal to any and all of you who enjoy and read 
Pieces of 8.  This MUST be a joint effort.  Jim, Robert and I will 
need the assistance of others to make a disk-based newsletter a 
success.  This could very well develop into something nationally known 
and something people eagerly await in their mailboxes.  The first step 
to making our disk-based newsletter has already been taken.  I have 
mailed "CCP/M Survey Kits" to those six people that said "yes" to the 
question "Will you help with the CCP/M Survey" on the attendance form 
circulated at the last meeting.  Reno Franconi, Glen Gross, Al 
Hathway, Reinhard May, Gabor Szikla, Diane Thome, and Tom Veile are 
the volunteers.  I have received 4 so far and the people that have 
responded are taking their surveys seriously, as it was intended.  
Please don't put off sending yours in.  We appreciate the time it will 
take you and will report the findings we make in our next Executive 
Meeting.  We WILL take action based on the information.  I will also 
put an article together when the results are in on what you said and 
what we plan on doing to meet the needs that emerge.

So mostly I experienced the meeting as one of those meetings during 
which the latest and greatest editor, disk directory program, library 
utility, games, file compressors and decompressors, file managers etc. 
were announced, named, briefly reviewed and compared.  I wish there 
had been more computers, more people and more time.  But I always wish 
that!

Z-Systems Associates and Leor Zolman have just recently announced a 
ZCPR3-knowledgable version of the classic BDS C compiler.  Al Hathway 
called to tell me about it and I then discovered the ad in the latest 
FOGHORN as well as the latest TCJ (these are two of the best journals 
available on CP/M today).  An integrated editor (RED), symbolic 
debugger and (get this) named directory and error flag support.  $90.  
This is as big news to the software world as Micropro's WS4.  When 
commercial products are announced that pay attention to ZCPR3, stand 
up and SHOUT!  CCP/M's Z-Plan status allows members to buy this at 20 
percent off.  $72 for the finest C compiler on the 8-bit market.  See 
elsewhere for our Z-Plan order form if interested.

Lee R. Bradley,  May 22, 1989