[Elecraft] [elecraft] K3 Beta Firmware Rev. 3.41...

[Kok Chen]

On Oct 7, 2009, at 10/7    6:50 AM, Radio Amateur N5GE wrote:

> You're experiencing why I stopped using Apple Computers and developing
> software for them in 1985.
>

> They are good computers but Apple does not make it easy for developers
> to create software for their computers (very expensive development
> tools).  That caused x86 and x64 based computer sales overwhelmed
> Apple sales as time went by.

For the record, the Macintosh was not even introduced until 1984 (that  
was in the MS-DOS time frame; Windows 1.0 was not introduced until the  
end of 1985).

To relate the (1985) development environments for the MOS Technology  
6502 or the Motorola 68000 to a discussion thread why others are  
experiencing a delay in the (2009) K3 Utilities for Mac OS X is IMHO a  
complete red herring.  David W4SMT has other reasons than the lack of  
tools.

There are two popular routes today to develop for Mac OS X.  One is to  
use the Xcode IDE that comes (read: for free -- so I have no idea  
where the "very expensive development tools" above come from) in the  
installer disk of every copy of Mac OS X that is sold since Mac OS X  
10.1 (2002).  The other is to use the third party cross platform  
REALbasic environment.

Many people, David among them, but it includes Tom DL2RUM with his  
RUMped and RUMlog series of programs, uses REALbasic, but other  
developers go through the Cocoa framework that is supported by the  
Xcode IDE; they include Don VE3VRW (MacLoggerDX), Bill K1GQ (cocoaVNA  
and SkookumLogger) and myself.

In addition to Objective C, the Xcode IDE has compilers for C, C++,  
Java, Python, Ruby, FORTRAN and AppleScript Studio.  For many  
languages, there are "bridges" between them so you can link modules  
that are written in multiple languages in the same program.

You are not restricted to the above languages either.  It is also easy  
to include other Unix tool chains into Xcode, as shown here for the  
compiler for Atmel AVR micro-controllers:

http://homepage.mac.com/chen/w7ay/AVR%20Tools/Contents/resources.html

Since Mac OS X is really just Unix under the GUI veneer, as long as  
you are proficient with Unix, you can use Unix tools directly without  
using Xcode, as described here for building NEC-4 under gfortran:

http://homepage.mac.com/chen/w7ay/cocoaNEC/Contents/NEC4.html

This should put to rest the other statement above, i.e., "Apple does  
not make it easy for developers to create software for their computers."

Bill K1GQ (another K3 owner; SkookumLogger's radio interface is  
primarily targeted at the K3) had only switched to developing in Cocoa  
within the last 4 or 5 years.  You can ask him how difficult Apple had  
made the transition for him, and if he is willing to switch to  
something else today.

You will find that there are fewer ham related programs for Mac OS X,  
but the reason is not for the lack of tools but rather, IMO, the case  
that there are fewer Mac OS using hams to start with.

73
Chen, W7AY

Full disclosure: Before retirement, I had worked for Apple.  But I  
have also programmed under IBSYS, TOPS-20, various Unixes (VAX, SUN,  
Apollo) before ever encountering Mac OS.