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Re: OS2200 MFD question

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> David W. Schroth wrote:
>> Lewis Cole wrote:
>> Okay, I'm just a poor dumb former bootstrap programmer (not a File
>> Control expert by any means), but long, long ago, I was interested in
>> how to go about find bits and pieces of a file on a disk (just like
>> other Bootstrap programmers have at one time or another) while playing
>> with the idea of putting the Exec in a file.
>>(And yes, this was a long time ago, back in the 2200/900 days before
>> MFA, et. al., actually did manage to put the Exec in a file.)
>
> While MFA is a Mike, they didn't put the Exec in a file.  That was
> done by Mikey and CWeed.

Thank you for the correction.

Having said that, let me dig myself a deeper hole by waving my arms at
my understanding/recollection of the events surrounding the
implementation of the Exec in a file effort.
Feel free to elaborate upon and/or make corrects to my
understandings/recollections.

It is my understanding/recollection that MFA argued for Exec in a file
long before it was actually implemented, even before the Mercury adapt
effort was started, but that he ignored ... just like a certain other
individual who shall remain nameless who tried to warn Management
relatively early on during the Mercury adapt effort that increasing the
size of the DRS area on the system disk wasn't going over well with
customers.
Presumably because Management was fixated on getting Mercury out the
door, the size of the DRS area used during development was simply double
in old size and we all went about our business as if the matter were
settled.

My understanding/recollection is that once Management finally
realized/accepted that increasing the size of the DRS would violate a
promise that the size of the DRS area wouldn't increase without two (2)
SB releases advanced warning (something that would never occur because
the Company didn't plan that far ahead), then things suddenly hit the
fan and an effort was made to whittle the Exec to fit with the currently
DRS area size known to customers shortly before Mercury was released.
The bulk of the work to get there from here being done by the individual
who shall remain nameless as well as Mikey and CWEED.
(It is my recollection that when the individual who shall remain
nameless was asked in a DDRB meeting what caused Management suddenly
reconsider its position WRT the DRS area's size, he responded with,
"Kaopectate?" ... a response that I hope is still immortalized in the
DDRB minutes somewhere.)

However, it is my understanding/recollection that while it should have
been obvious that a longer term solution was needed/required at that
point, Management still wanted to drag their feet, and that it took
screaming by various individuals, most memorably for me MFA, for
Management to get off their dead penguin butts and do something.
I am aware of MFA because I still talked to him from time to time about
Bootstrap stuff, but it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if there
was a lot of screaming from others (like the individual who shall remain
nameless) that was also needed to push the dead elephant forward a
millimeter or two.
That is why I credited MFA with getting the Exec in a file even though
Mikey and CWEED (and I suspect the individual who shall remain nameless)
actually did the heavy lifting to get there from here.

I don't think that MFA contributed *ANYTHING* in terms of design or code
to the Exec in a file effort, but I suspect that without his (and
others) screaming, the Exec in a file effort would have been delayed
until someone finally recognized that there was probably no chance to
put in another Exec feature without running into the DRS size
limitation.
While that shouldn't have taken too long, I've always been amazed at
Management's ability to procrastinated.

Nevertheless, I can well understand how my comment regarding MFA could
be seen as a slight to those who actually made Exec in a file a reality.
If CWEED were still alive, I probably be apologizing to her right now.
Ditto Mikey if I knew how to get a hold of him.
Please pass along my apologies to the individual who shall remain
nameless for neglecting to mention is work.

--

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OS2200 MFD question Stephen Boyd <sboydlns@gmail.com> - 2025-01-11 09:29 -0500
  Re: OS2200 MFD question l_cole@juno.com (lewiscole) - 2025-01-11 20:06 +0000
    Re: OS2200 MFD question Stephen Boyd <sboydlns@gmail.com> - 2025-01-12 10:22 -0500
      Re: OS2200 MFD question l_cole@juno.com (lewiscole) - 2025-01-12 18:49 +0000
        Re: OS2200 MFD question R Daneel Olivaw <Danny@hyperspace.vogon.gov> - 2025-01-13 08:41 +0100
        Re: OS2200 MFD question Stephen Boyd <sboydlns@gmail.com> - 2025-01-13 10:02 -0500
          Re: OS2200 MFD question l_cole@juno.com (lewiscole) - 2025-01-15 02:04 +0000
            Re: OS2200 MFD question David W Schroth <davidschroth@harrietmanor.com> - 2025-01-31 22:34 -0600
              Re: OS2200 MFD question l_cole@juno.com (lewiscole) - 2025-02-02 20:50 +0000
                Re: OS2200 MFD question David W Schroth <davidschroth@harrietmanor.com> - 2025-02-02 20:23 -0600
          Re: OS2200 MFD question David W Schroth <davidschroth@harrietmanor.com> - 2025-01-31 22:30 -0600
            Re: OS2200 MFD question Stephen Boyd <sboydlns@gmail.com> - 2025-02-01 10:21 -0500

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