Ok, so i know i seem like a script kiddie, posting my first post as this, but i've been writing software on my mac, preparing to be confident enough to do this, and now i am, so i finally made an account. I'm going to start creating software for the now abandoned platform. Any requests? note it may take a while to write these, and i'm hoping the admin (sheepmyshaver123? i've never fully understood if they were the admin) can make a forum to share my source code, and to help revive programming. I have a performa 6290cd with mac 9.1, 9.0, 8.1, 7.5, and mklinux installed... Well, i'm working on mklinux. It refuses to boot the installer... any help with that would also be welcome, but is not the subject of this topic, and so i will make a topic for it. Thank you.
-Jon
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2011, December 18 - 1:17am
#1
New software from a current programmer
Comments
2011, December 18 - 4:16am
#2
Maedi owns the site, Balrog is admin, there are several moderators, including IIGS User who posts frequently. Sheepmyshaver123 is not one of them.
2011, December 18 - 7:22am
#3
Thanks. I've been a bit confused, and i was never certain on that. He seemed like a pretty major player.
2011, December 18 - 9:11am
#4
He posts a lot, and bumps his own posts again and again. We should really add a list of moderators, etc. to the "about" page so users know who to trust. My own moniker indicates that I am the Master Control Program, but only at my own site, I'm simply a user here at the Garden.
Anyway, what kind of software are you interested in writing? Have you written anything before?
2011, December 18 - 9:12am
#5
interesting, I'm just getting to grips with similar (not unix stuff though) - what everyone needs is a good web browser (OK a huge task), the job is currently been undertaken by Classilla - you will find links on 68kmla forum. http://68kmla.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=17045
The man behind it obviously is an expert, if you have the skills, check him out as from what he says, keeping a web browser up to date is like trying to hit a moving target.
Other than that I'm finding learning and programming these old Macs quite fun (I must be a geek - sad eh). A modern website that details Mac programming would be interesting.
2011, December 18 - 9:18am
#6
There is a page on this site which describes some peoples involved to this site, but don't think I can find it again. 
2011, December 18 - 9:40am
#7
Hi,
There was a Windows guy who made a very basic free mpeg-editor for Windows. He did a Mac OS port of it, but not being familiar with the Mac environment, he didn't give it a Mac GUI. Which means it isn't very useful for your average not techie Mac user. However as there isn't a lot in the way of mpeg-editors for the old Mac OS, it would make a good start project. I'll upload it here if you are interested.
2011, December 18 - 10:44am
#8
USB 2 driver for PCI cards? None were written for OS 9.
2011, December 18 - 4:17pm
#9
I find it a great idea to start programming for vintage Macs as a hobby. There are still many people around using those Macs as a hobby (and some even use it professionally). What I find that OS 9 lacks is a really good multi-protocol instant messenger that will allow me to send and receive messages to my friends using ICQ, Yahoo and AIM. If you're looking for a challenge....
2011, December 18 - 4:47pm
#10
There was a guy working on a multi protocol instant messenger which would work on all Internet capable Macs (including the Intel ones) but he gave it away (I think when he left college). It was called Mac Messenger and he released the source code, but no one has taken it up.
2011, December 18 - 5:21pm
#11
Jon, I hardly dare mentioning, but a USB implementation for BasiiskII/Sheepshaver would be the bummer.
As I am told, Chris Bauer´s source code is not easily understood, maybe its asking too much.
But anyway a developer would be more than welcome for keeping the emulators alive.
More and more vintage Macs will have to be dumped, I´m afraid.
2011, December 18 - 7:11pm
#12
The usb drivers would be hard, as i only have a Performa 6290CD to work with, and, being that i'm not that skilled with C, C++, or PASCAL, the three languages i know, it would be pretty difficult in the first place... However, with some basic hardware mechanics knowledge, it's doable. And i'll start working on the mpeg editor. Btw, anyone know a good DB-25 to RJ45 adapter, that way i can get the source off the mac?
2011, December 18 - 8:04pm
#13
Best to start with a little project. I'll upload it today.
Another interesting field is old apps that the developer stopped updating for OS 9, but continued to put out updates for OS X, Windows or whatever. Usually for economic reasons or the drop in users. I'm not thinking of the big corporate developers, but the small ones. Some of whom might be persuaded to allow third-parties to continue Mac OS development if they didn't have to put any time or money into it and could approve final changes. In which case you would have the source from the other OS versions to port or adapt from, rather than having to start from scratch.
2011, December 19 - 12:36am
#14
Plus, i'm terrible at GUI's. I can't do anything unless it's command line. I would love for someone to help me with a GUI, and if anyone would volunteer, that would be great.
2011, December 19 - 12:44am
#15
But yes, it's better to start from source. That way i have a base. I think i'm going to try to port a game i have come across on my pc to mac 8, as well as 7-zip. 7-zip would probably be better, as it's more efficient, and weould host it and use it freely, with no worries, and less stress on the part of our fellow enthusiasts. Anyone thing i should try to port 7-zip?
2011, December 19 - 12:56am
#16
bioshacker001, it would be very nice if you write a POSIX compatibility layer to compile open-source software on OS 9. Also, I'm not sure if it suits your request, but there is a longstanding demand for the A/UX-like OS, something like this: http://christtrekker.users.sourceforge.net/doc/aux/nouveaux.shtml
2011, December 19 - 1:01am
#17
By the way, what tools are you using? Metrowerks? MPW?
2011, December 19 - 1:03am
#18
A/UX would be easy, as long as i can get ahold of raw unix kernel, and i could work with some of my friends. I'm not very good with IA for PPC, but my friend Thaddeus is, so it should be easy having a baseline. I can try for just a layer, as i can legally get the source to the powerpc versions of OSX. I cannot distribute them without express permission, but i can apply for that too, so i can get the source up here. I don't know if the admins would allow that (can i get a yes or a no?) but i can try. And if someone can point me towards precompiled A/UX files, even for 68k, i can probably get help from those. The 68k enabler should allow me to use modified versions of some of them, and the copyrights on A/UX expired last year, so even if they don't release the source, reverse engineering the source is now legal.
2011, December 19 - 1:17am
#19
I have codewarrior gold, mpw with all the enhancements i could find, and symantec C and C++
2011, December 19 - 1:17am
#20
All thanks to you guys.
2011, December 19 - 2:47am
#21
http://www.mediafire.com/?n33eb2epur2db
There are some development tools I found on my own CD's and on the web in the folder above, plus there's more stuff here on the Garden: http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/development-tools
2011, December 19 - 6:05pm
#22
bioshacker, check your e-mail
2011, December 19 - 10:39pm
#23
I was a Mac developer for over 20 years. I did some X work but Apple abandoned so many Classic APIs that I felt overwhelmed by the loss (and the constant supply of bugs in the new APIs). So I never developed a liking for X coding.
I did a LOT of UI work starting with v7.5.3 and on. I did quite a but of Quicktime stuff and some minor driver work. I did some unix coding as well.
I prefer C as a programming language.
I have some free time now. I am willing to do something with you if you are interested.
Gary
2011, December 20 - 4:39pm
#24
Check your e-mail again
2011, December 20 - 4:56pm
#25
Gary, thanks for your offer. Here a wish list:
Gutenprint for Mac OS 9.
Mac OS 9 drivers for later PPC and for Intel Macs. Wouldn't it be great to be able to boot Mac OS natively on a MacBookPro?!
RAR, 7ZIP, and other decompression tools for archives Stuffit 7 does not support.
A PDF Viewer for PDF versions above 1.4.
An editor or the like with which one can fully embed OTF Glyphs into Mac OS 9 word processors. AAT support for Mac OS 9.
A plug-in for Distiller 5 that enables Distiller 5 to create PDFs with OTF fonts. (Jaws PDF Creator supports OTF but the Quality of Distiller is far superior to Jaws.)
2011, December 20 - 7:33pm
#26
Mac OS 9 drivers for later PPC and for Intel Macs.
You can't make Mac OS 9 runnable on Intel just by writing new drivers. The kernel and crucial system software (e.g. Finder) are compiled for PowerPC, so there are only three ways to workaround it:
1. PPC emulation (Sheepshaver, etc.) BTW, Apple's Rosetta doesn't do complete PPC hardware emulation, therefore it is unable to run Mac OS 9.
2. Rewriting and recompilation of the source code (alas, Apple won't give away its sources).
3. Reimplement Mac OS 9 from scratch (see Haiku project).
In last two cases you are losing compatiblity anyway, because applications are also have to be recompiled. The major drawback of the emulation approach is lack of system's expansibility -- any expansions are restricted to system extensions, drivers and applications. Also you can't use Mac OS 9 without host OS, because you need to run the emulator somewhere.
Overall, I would like to see the A/UX-like OS, a system that integrates Mac OS 9 user interface into modern Unix and have a bundled emulator to run old applications. I'm going to start implementing it when I get some free time.
2011, December 21 - 1:27pm
#27
Looking forward to the offsprings of your free time, CortexReaver!
Something like OpenIndiana with a OS9 GUI and backward compatible emulation would be it, I guess.
2012, January 1 - 1:05am
#28
I just got all the updates... And i just regained access, as well as my password.
2012, January 1 - 1:14am
#29
Gary, i would be thankful for that, as i am not very good. Until rather recently, i was more a script kiddie than a programmer.