Subject: FLEX User Group Newsletter Vol 1 No 5
Hello to all,
This is FLEX User Group Newsletter, Volume 1, Number 5!
Dated 19981115, get used to the ISO date format folks, year 2000 is near!
Welcome to the new members!
First the boilerplate introduction:
+++LIST,BOILRPLT.TXT
My name is Ian Blythe and I am already known to several of you
with some private messages, however to those who have not heard
from me, I have picked your names from various sources as having
a continuing interest in the TSC 6809 FLEX operating System.
1997 was the 20th Birthday of Flex (1977-1997 - so let's join
together and share our knowledge and enthusiasm for Flex.
If you do not wish to be emailed in the future on this subject,
please let me know, otherwise I welcome your thoughts on this.
+++LIST,NEWV1N05.TXT
Well, I've finally made it to Newletter Number 5! It's been an eventfull
year for me, I lost my job, and have endured the incredible beaurocracy
of the French administration involved in starting up as a consultant.
So here I am, now a fully fledged consultant/technical writer and now
with a bit more time to breathe.
In the meantime I have remained in contact by e-mail with many of you
and the group has grown even more. However I have lost contact with
several FUG members, probably due to a change in e-mail address.
If you know these members (listed below), please ask them to send me
an e-mail with their new address.
In addition to the three-line logo proposed in Newsletter Volume 1 Number 4
I've made a more compact version which also captures the flavour of FLEX
a bit more:
+++FLEX,USER,GROUP
WHAT?
Use this in your e-mail signature on all your FLEX correspondence!
There are some new sections in this newsletter, look out for them!
The big news is that the FLEX User Group now has a home on the web!
I've set up the home pages for the group on the server space provided
by my ISP. I've had the pages running for some time, but my ISP was
using a very unreliable web server, so I've waited for the new
web server before announcing the URL.
Anyway, point your browser to:
http://perso.pacwan.fr/ipblythe/fug1.htm
If you wish to print any of these pages, use the Netscape page setup
option to set the text to black. I've tried to give the look and feel
of the FLEX days by implementing a green on black screen for the pages.
I'm always adding more information to the FUG pages, so come back often.
New information on the website will be listed in the newsletter.
Watch out for The Computer Journal #82 coming soon, inside there is
an article by the great Ron Anderson on the FLEX emulators, and I also
have an article on the FLEX User Group. You do subscribe to TCJ don't
you? Please help keep this august publication going.
The URL for the TCJ website for further information is on the links
page of the FUG website.
Graham Trott, author of PL/9, MACE, XMACE and other FLEX software, has
kindly sent me the Windrush disk library (for the Windrush generated
programs). These disks (there are 100!) will be catalogged and the
contents will be uploaded to the PC. The files will be put into the DSK
format for the website.
There is finally an easy way to get your FLEX software onto a PC.
Klaus Dickhörner sent me the source to his program to allow a FLEX
system to read and write an MSDOS low density disk. This program
is exceedingly well written and is a very good example for programmers
even today. Alas for me, the comments in the sources were in German,
and luckily for the group, Joël Setton volunteered to translate the
comments into English. Joël also wrote a user guide to the changes
needed for adaption to a FLEX system.
Ron Anderson tried this out on a SWTPC system and found that the
SWTPC cost saving measure for using the side bit as the density
controller gave problems. Joël debugged this and provided a patch
(hardware and software) and now the MSDOS program works on SWTPC.
(Other SS50 based hardware is not believed to have this problem).
I have received a very interesting document written by John Fiorino;
this is a merger of all the programming and user information for
all the versions of FLEX (MiniFLEX, FLEX 2.0 (6800) and FLEX 9.0
(6809)) into one handy reference. I'll be publishing this on the
website soon.
Don't forget that if your copies of the 6800/6809 manuals are
getting a bit tatty with age and use, you can get a fresh copy
directly from the Motorola Literature centre on the web.
Goto:
http://Design-NET.com/cgi-bin/dlsrch
http://Design-NET.com/home/lit_ord.html
Now we've just got to find someone in Motorola who would be
willing (and have the authority) to let the FUG have copies of
the 68xx manuals, preferably in PDF. Does anyone have any useful
contacts in Motorola for this?
+++LIST,NEWONWEB.TXT
Check out the FLEX History page, I've tried to give a potted history of
FLEX, if I've missed anything, or if you have more detailed information
to be added, please e-mail me with the details.
I've now got separate pages for the emulators and the FLEX links, I'll
probably also split the links pages into FLEX User pages, a useful
information page and a 68xx link page.
The links to the emulators have been updated.
I'm also proposing to put a 'Faces' page up. Send me a reasonable
likeness (preferably as an electronic image) and I'll put you onto
this page. We as a group are split all over the world, so it will be
a fascinating opportunity to put a face to the e-mail persona.
+++LIST,FLEXCAT.TXT
FLEX Software
Windrush Microsystems Catalog (UK)
1st Jan 1985
MACE, Co-res Editor/Assembler for 6809, by Graham Trott
ASM, Macro Assembler, by LLOYD I/O
OSM, Extended Macro Assembler, by LLOYD I/O
RALL1, Relocating Assembler/Linking Loader, by Omegasoft
Mnemonic Assembler System, by TSC
Relocating Assembler/Linking Loader, by TSC
Basic, by TSC
Basic Compiler, by TSC
Extended Basic, by TSC
Extended Basic Compiler, by TSC
Basic Toolkit, by Bud Pass
Sort/Merge Package, by TSC
A/BASIC Compiler, by Frank Hogg Laboratories
K/BASIC Compiler, by LLOYD I/O
XMACE, Co-res Editor/Assembler for 6801-8, 6303, by Graham Trott
ASM05, Co-res Editor/Assembler for 6805, by Graham Trott
CRASMB, Cross Assemblers, multiple targets, by LLOYD I/O
CRASMB16.32, 68000 Macro Cross Assembler, by LLOYD I/O
68000 Cross Assembler, by TSC
Cross Assemblers, multiple targets, by Bud Pass
SPL/M, Small Programming Language for MPUs, by Thomas Crosley
68000 Cross Pascal Compiler, by Omegasoft
RMS, Database Management System, by Washington Comp Services
XDMS, Data Management System, by Westchester App. Biz Syst.
D-BUG, Tracer/Mini Disassembler, by Stewart Bush
Debug Package, by TSC
6800/1 Debugging Simulator, by Bud Pass
6805 Debugging Simulator, by Bud Pass
6502 Debugging Simulator, by Bud Pass
DYNAMITE+ Disassembler, by Philip Lucido
SuperSleuth, 68xx and 6502 Disassembler, by Bud Pass
SuperSleuth, Z80/8080/8085 Disassembler, by Bud Pass
6800-6809 Converter, by Bud Pass
6809 PIC/PID, by Bud Pass
FLEX 09 Disk Operating System, by TSC
FLEX Utilities, by TSC
FLEX Diagnostics, by TSC
FLEX Utilities Package, by Windrush
FLEX Toolkit, by Frank Hogg Laboratories
FLEX Disk Utilities Package, by Bud Pass
FLEX Extended Utilities, by Frank Hogg Laboratories
JCP, Job Control Program by Chiratech
eFORTH, FORTH '83, by Frank Hogg Laboratories
tFORTH by Talbot Microsystems
tFORTH+ by Talbot Microsystems
UNIX V7 Compat 'C' Compiler K&R by James McCosh
DYNA-C, Small C derivative, by Dynasoft
6809 PASCAL by Omegasoft
P-6800, 6800 PASCAL Release 3, by Lucidata
DYNASOFT PASCAL by Frank Hogg Laboratories
Native Code PASCAL Compiler by TSC
PL/9, Programming Language, by Graham Trott
SPL/M, by Thomas Crosley
DYNACALC Spreadsheet, by Computer Systems Center
ED Programmers' Editor by LLOYD I/O
Text Editing System by TSC
Text Processing System by TSC
SCREDITOR III, Text Editor/Word Processor, by John Alford
DYNASTAR, Menu Driven Text Editor, by Frank Hogg Laboratories
STYLOGRAPH, Text Processing System, by Great Plains Computer Co.
DYNASPELL, Spelling Checker, by Dale Puckett
Phew! did you ever realise that so much software was available for
FLEX? One of the group's aims then is to find all this software and
to copy it onto a CD for archival.
I have scanned in this part of Windrush's catalog and I'll soon be
publishing it on the website. Windrush have kindly let us do this
on the provision that nobody asks them for a copy of any of the
software.
+++LIST,NEWMEMS.TXT
Welcome to:
Roger Barraud in Auckland, New Zealand
Nigel Benée, Lucidata, England
Richard Don, ex-GMX (Gimix) USA
John Fiorino in NYC, NY, USA
Mike Magnus, GMX (Gimix) USA
Dan Vanada, ex-TSC marketing director, USA
Jörgen Dahlberg, in Sweden
+++LIST,LOSTMEMS.TXT
Alas, I've had e-mail bouncing from the following people. If you are
still in touch with anyone on the list, please ask them to send me
an e-mail.
Hans Kraus in Austria
Randy Lewis in the USA
Doug Beck (in the USA?)
Hans Saelens in Belgium
Dale L. Pucket in the USA
Tore H. Larson in Norway
+++LIST,FLEXDOCS.TXT
Wilko Bulte in The Netherlands has kindly sent me the manuals
for 'OmegaSoft 6809 Relocatable Assembler And Linking Loader'
and the 'OmegaSoft Pascal Language Handbook'
I have already copied and scanned these, and when I can find a
convenient way to remake the drawings these manuals will be
on the website in PDF.
+++LIST,ATDT.TXT
MON 8/13/84 12:42:32 PM
Welcome to flexnet, the only fully automated, irresponsible,
sysopless system! Use at your own risk.
DELETE YOUR MAIL!!!!!
For instructions on how to use this system, type:
HELP
flexnet- bye
Thanks for calling flexnet!
Anybody remember calling FLEXNET? Does anybody have a collection
of the files present there (although most seemed to be for the CoCo)?
+++LIST,MESSAGES.TXT
Keep those messages coming!
+++LIST,COPYRITE.TXT
This section will give details of all copyright clearances (ie public
domain status) of Flex software. I am leaving all the details here
so this section will grow (hopefully) in size until we have covered
all the software published for FLEX.
I am preparing a form to be printed and signed by authors, so could
you all send me your snailmail addresses. This is just so that we as
a group are completely clear on the copyright status of the FLEX
software. Please forgive this, but we really must be very clear on this.
And now, look what's new!
From Dave Shirk (ex TSC):
>As the copyright holder to FLEX - I am giving you permission to do what
>you please - which includes making some bucks - if possible.
>It was a fun time of the computer era which few will never know - so if
>you can share some of that love for 4KB, 8 byte computers - more power
>to you!
>Just one requirement. I get notified or a copy of anything you do. You
>have my full support!
You bet Dave! you will be kept informed on all our progress. And whew!
without the approval for FLEX itself we really would have a problem...
Many, many thanks Dave.
From Bud Pass:
>Any FLEX or COCO software that I wrote that you have in your possession
>may be freely distributed without restriction. I hereby place it in the
>public domain.
Many thanks Bud, if you have a copy of any software written by Bud,
please let me know.
From Dale L. Puckett:
>Any software that I wrote that you have in your possession may be freely
>distributed without restriction. I hereby place it in the public domain.
>This includes Esther and DynaSpell and any other programs I published
>through FHL for FLEX (6800 and 6809) [and the Coco].
Many thanks Dale, Dynaspell I have, but not Esther. Does anybody have a
copy that they can send me (and the manual)?
From Tom Crosley (PIE editor):
>Any 6800/6809 software that I wrote that you have in your
>possession may be freely distributed without restriction. I
>hereby place it in the public domain. This includes the PIE
>editor for FLEX (6800 and 6809), including the Radio Shack
>Color Computer. No warranties are expressed or implied, and
>no support will be available from the author.
Many thanks Tom, I hope I've got a copy of PIE coming my way.
From (c) Robert Reimiller (OmegaSoft Pascal, now Certified Software)
>>In fact, if you have stopped selling the FLEX program so long ago,
>>would you consider releasing them to public domain (unsupported
>>of course)?
> I don't see any harm in that.
Many thanks Robert, we are still looking for a copy!
From (c) Graham Trott (ex-Windrush, now QuickShow - www.quickshow.co.uk)
>As far as releasing into public domain, I have no problem with this.
>You're welcome to the entire caboodle - if it can be found - MACE, XMACE,
>ASM05 and PL/9
Many, many thanks Graham. As shown above we have the files, and what is
more we even have a copy of the source to PL/9!
For those who don't know, MACE is an editor/assembler for FLEX, an IDE
before they became fashionable ;)
Look out for some history of FLEX in the UK in the next newsletter.
From (c) John Spray (Whimsical)
>I would be happy for you to have whimsical in the archive.
>Do you need it on a FLEX diskette? It will be some time before I
>can get that for you as I am currently extending and renovating
>my house
Many thanks John, and good luck with the house! I now have a copy of
Whimsical and its manual, thanks!
From (c) Chuck Eaker (Forth for Flex, CoCo)
>Any software that I wrote that you have in your possession may be freely
>distributed without restriction. I hereby place it in the public domain.
>This includes the Forth versions for FLEX (6800 and 6809) and the CoCo.
Many thanks Chuck, now does anybody have a copy of these Forths (and
the manuals)?
From (c) Richard Pennington (Introl C, Introl - www.introl.com):
>If you can find a copy of Introl-C for FLEX I would be more than happy
>to release it so you can put it on the CD-ROM.
>Unfortunately, we seem to have lost all our copies :)
>P.S. I was actually the guy that originally wrote that beast.
+++LIST,EMULATOR.TXT
The FLEX emulators, keep FLEX going without hardware!
From (c) Wolfgang Schwotzer:
For those of you using Linux, SunOS 4.1.3 or Ultrix 4.4 (with GCC) get:
http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/emulators/flexemu-0.80.tgz
flexemu.lsm
Wolfgang has also kindly compiled a version of his emulator for the W95
environment for those of us who are not yet running Linux. A copy of
this file is available on the FUG website. Flexemu is also available on
Winsite archive at:
http://www.winsite.com/info/pc/win95/misc/flexemu-1.00.exe/
Michael Evenson has also been making significant advances with his
emulator which works in the W32 environment. Michael has been offering
this emulator as shareware but has not had many registrations for the
CDs he has sent out so far. Please support Michael as much as you can.
Send any comments to by e-mail to me and I'll forward them on to Michael.
+++LIST,MYSYSTEM.TXT
We all seem to be running FLEX on a wide variety of 6809-based systems
from SS50-based originals to standard boards to full custom systems.
Let's share this information as it shows just how a 20 year old
operating system can still be alive today!
I've received a few system summaries already, I'll be publishing these
in one of the next newsletters.
+++LIST,CLASSIFY.TXT
Items wanted or available:
None this edition...
+++LIST,DEMOGRAF.TXT
The new European Data Protection Act has come into force.
In order to comply with this I need to have your approval to
use your e-mail address and any other 'personal' information
for and only for the FLEX User Group. This information will
be stored locally on my PC and will not be distributed to
other parties.
With this in mind, I though I could combine this with some
demographic information. I will compile this and publish a summary
of the results in a future newsletter.
Please could you clip the following section, complete it and return
it to me by e-mail (ipblythe@aix.pacwan.net) or FAX it to me on
+33 4 42 68 09 41 (that's in France so add your international
dialling prefix in place of the '+').
<----------------- clip ----------------->
Demographic Information request on behalf of the FLEX User Group
Name ....................... [ ]
Address......................[ ]
.............................[ ]
............ZIP/Address Code [ ]
.....................Country [ ]
E-mail address.............. [ ]
Company website............. [ ]
Personal website............ [ ]
Age (as of last birthday)... [ ] years
Sex................... Male [ ]
.................... Female [ ]
Do you wish to be anonymous on the website list of FUG members?
........................ Yes [ ]
......................... No [ ]
Do you wish your e-mail/website to be linked onto the website list?
Company................. Yes [ ] No [ ]
Personal................ Yes [ ] No [ ]
I wrote the following software for FLEX .. [ ]
.............................[ ]
I hereby grant the FLEX User Group full and free use of the software
and the respective manuals. No support will be provided.
........................ Yes [ ]
......................... No [ ]
Your right to remain anonymous and not to complete any part is respected.
<----end clip, complete and e-mail ------>
+++LIST,NEXTEDN.TXT
Next edition *will* include the list of FLEX utility software sources
as promised, will your routines be there? Coming up soon!
+++LIST,FOOTER.TXT
Well that's the fifth newsletter. Bigger and better (I hope).
I appreciate all feedback and inputs, help keep the newsletter growing!
As ever if you hear of any FLEX software or systems being junked or
scrapped, please save it for us. I am collecting as much as I can.
I'm always looking for manuals, any condition, photocopy or not, as long
as the copy is clean and can be scanned.
Best regards to all
Ian Blythe
1 Domaine Ste Croix +++FLEX
13710 FUVEAU +++User
FRANCE +++Group (Coordinator)
Copyright (c) 1998 Ian P. Blythe. All Rights Reserved.
This newsletter may be further distributed provided that it is copied
in its entirety, including the newsletter number at the top and the
copyright and contact information at the bottom.
All trademarks are acknowledged.
--
words are but mine own, I speaketh not for another
ipblythe@aix.pacwan.net
Please note that I will soon be leaving CompuServe, so please use only
the e-mail address shown above (or ipblythe@ieee.org).
+++MON
...