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Wordstar on DOS still rocks

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  Wordstar on DOS still rocks RS Wood  <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2014-05-14 09:52 +0000
    Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks sail0r <sail0r@example.com> - 2014-05-14 23:31 -0400
      Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-05-15 07:02 +0000
        Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Hils <hils@saynotospam.net> - 2014-05-15 08:31 +0100
          Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2014-05-15 11:50 +0000
            Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Rich <rich@example.com> - 2014-05-15 12:50 +0000
              Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2014-05-15 15:53 +0000
                Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks scott@alfter.diespammersdie.us (Scott Alfter) - 2014-05-15 17:27 +0000
                  Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Rich <rich@example.com> - 2014-05-15 18:10 +0000
                  Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-05-16 03:53 +0000
        Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-05-15 15:59 +0000
          Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-05-15 17:08 +0000
            Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-05-15 23:31 +0000
              Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks David Harmon <source@netcom.com> - 2014-05-15 18:02 -0700
                Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-05-16 03:56 +0000
                  Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks David Harmon <source@netcom.com> - 2014-05-19 11:30 -0700
              Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-05-16 06:06 +0000
          Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Anssi Saari <as@sci.fi> - 2014-05-19 23:14 +0300
            Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2014-05-19 23:12 +0000
      Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-05-15 15:59 +0000
      Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks scott@alfter.diespammersdie.us (Scott Alfter) - 2014-05-15 17:10 +0000
        Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Rich <rich@example.com> - 2014-05-15 17:55 +0000
          Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-05-15 23:33 +0000
            Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks "John" <j@j.j> - 2014-05-22 10:32 -0700
    Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Peter Percival <peterxpercival@hotmail.com> - 2014-05-16 09:59 +0100
      Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-05-18 19:01 +0200
    Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Peter Percival <peterxpercival@hotmail.com> - 2014-05-16 18:10 +0100
      Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2014-05-18 14:11 +0000
        Re: Wordstar on DOS still rocks Peter Percival <peterxpercival@hotmail.com> - 2014-05-18 16:18 +0100

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#2840

In article <2014051423313693857-sail0r@examplecom>,
sail0r  <sail0r@example.com> wrote:
>On 2014-05-14 09:52:55 +0000, RS Wood said:
>
>> The blogosphere is buzzing this week with the revelation[1] that George R.R.
>> Martin[2] , the much-admired author of the A Game of Thrones[3] and more,
>> actually does his writing on a DOS machine running the old, 1970s word
>> processor, Wordstar[4] .
>
>When I read that I wondered just how he got the files to his publisher?
>Is he running DOS in emulation and just otherwise emails the files?
>If not, does he snail mail them a floppy disk? Dial up to some remote machine?
>Anyone know?

He has two machines, one for writing and another for everything else.  If it
were me, I'd have the writing machine connected to the LAN, with a Samba
share (or equivalent) mapped.  That would keep works in progress on
(presumably) reasonably modern equipment, only being edited on the older
machine.  I used to have an IBM PC/XT (not a clone) set up this way, with
the last version of DR DOS, an 8-bit NIC (10BaseT, even) that I'd found at a
local computer-surplus store, and a DOS-based network stack that I think I
had copied from a Windows install CD of some sort, though this suggests that
they're now free downloads:

http://www.jacco2.dds.nl/samba/dos.html

Failing that, a floppy disk or a null-modem connection would also work.  I
used to have a null-modem cable between my Apple IIs and whatever x86 box I
had at the time for file transfers because you couldn't exchange files
between the two with floppies (at least not with the hardware I had). 

Floppies would be easy and cheap, and while they had become somewhat less
reliable in more recent years, they'd usually at least last for the few
minutes it'd take to write the file on one box and read it in on the other
box.

  _/_
 / v \ Scott Alfter (remove the obvious to send mail)
(IIGS( http://alfter.us/            Top-posting!
 \_^_/                              >What's the most annoying thing on Usenet?

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#2842

Scott Alfter <scott@alfter.diespammersdie.us> wrote:
> >Is he running DOS in emulation and just otherwise emails the files?
> >If not, does he snail mail them a floppy disk? Dial up to some remote machine?
> >Anyone know?

> He has two machines, one for writing and another for everything else.  If it
> were me, I'd have the writing machine connected to the LAN, with a Samba
> share (or equivalent) mapped.  That would keep works in progress on
> (presumably) reasonably modern equipment, only being edited on the older
> machine.  I used to have an IBM PC/XT (not a clone) set up this way, with
> the last version of DR DOS, an 8-bit NIC (10BaseT, even) that I'd found at a
> local computer-surplus store, and a DOS-based network stack that I think I
> had copied from a Windows install CD of some sort, though this suggests that
> they're now free downloads:

If it were me, I'd just run WordStar in DosBox on a Linux machine.

All the Dos goodness of WordStar, none of the problems of getting the
files off the Dos machine to a networked machine.

DosBox can be setup to read/write files directly into a Linux
filesystem, so what you end up with is a Linux fs containing filenames
in 8.3 format for Dos usage.  But they are all accessible to Linux, and
to all the Linux backup/transfer tools that abound.

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#2849

In message <5374ffae$0$17130$c3e8da3$dd9697d2@news.astraweb.com> 
  Rich <rich@example.com> wrote:
> Scott Alfter <scott@alfter.diespammersdie.us> wrote:
>> >Is he running DOS in emulation and just otherwise emails the files?
>> >If not, does he snail mail them a floppy disk? Dial up to some remote machine?
>> >Anyone know?

>> He has two machines, one for writing and another for everything else.  If it
>> were me, I'd have the writing machine connected to the LAN, with a Samba
>> share (or equivalent) mapped.  That would keep works in progress on
>> (presumably) reasonably modern equipment, only being edited on the older
>> machine.  I used to have an IBM PC/XT (not a clone) set up this way, with
>> the last version of DR DOS, an 8-bit NIC (10BaseT, even) that I'd found at a
>> local computer-surplus store, and a DOS-based network stack that I think I
>> had copied from a Windows install CD of some sort, though this suggests that
>> they're now free downloads:

> If it were me, I'd just run WordStar in DosBox on a Linux machine.

Yes, that seems like it would be the best choice. I mean, assuming you
really desperately needed to use Wordstar.

If it were me, I'd just write the book in a text editor and LaTeX.


-- 
"If you can't do something smart, do something right."

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#2994

I used to use wordstar (although ancient of ancient) on the CPM card in my 
Apple ][ (I still have it) - then to move it out, I'd use my 1200baud modem 
and attach it to an email with my email program (the name of which escapes 
me ATM) Those were the fun days!! :)

"Lewis" <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote in message 
news:slrnlnajls.1eg8.g.kreme@amelia.local...
> In message <5374ffae$0$17130$c3e8da3$dd9697d2@news.astraweb.com>
>  Rich <rich@example.com> wrote:
>> Scott Alfter <scott@alfter.diespammersdie.us> wrote:
>>> >Is he running DOS in emulation and just otherwise emails the files?
>>> >If not, does he snail mail them a floppy disk? Dial up to some remote 
>>> >machine?
>>> >Anyone know?
>
>>> He has two machines, one for writing and another for everything else. 
>>> If it
>>> were me, I'd have the writing machine connected to the LAN, with a Samba
>>> share (or equivalent) mapped.  That would keep works in progress on
>>> (presumably) reasonably modern equipment, only being edited on the older
>>> machine.  I used to have an IBM PC/XT (not a clone) set up this way, 
>>> with
>>> the last version of DR DOS, an 8-bit NIC (10BaseT, even) that I'd found 
>>> at a
>>> local computer-surplus store, and a DOS-based network stack that I think 
>>> I
>>> had copied from a Windows install CD of some sort, though this suggests 
>>> that
>>> they're now free downloads:
>
>> If it were me, I'd just run WordStar in DosBox on a Linux machine.
>
> Yes, that seems like it would be the best choice. I mean, assuming you
> really desperately needed to use Wordstar.
>
> If it were me, I'd just write the book in a text editor and LaTeX.
>
>
> -- 
> "If you can't do something smart, do something right." 

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#2856

RS Wood wrote:
>  From the «nothing flashing at me» department:
> Title: Wordstar and Old Software Too Good to Stop Using
> Author: zafiro17@pipedot.org
> Date: Wed, 14 May 2014 03:06:54 -0400
> Link: http://pipedot.org/story/2014-05-14/wordstar-and-old-software-too-good-to-stop-using
>
> Every day tech news is rife with stories about the latest and greatest, but
> some people don't want the latest and greatest; they want their old faves.
> The blogosphere is buzzing this week with the revelation[1] that George R.R.
> Martin[2] , the much-admired author of the A Game of Thrones[3] and more,
> actually does his writing on a DOS machine running the old, 1970s word
> processor, Wordstar[4] .Should that matter? I don't think so[5] . Not one

Here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27407502 I read

  Disk operating system computers were popular in the 1980s and early
  1990s.

  And the system remained in widespread use up to around the turn of the
  century - but some already considered it outdated by the time Martin's
  first instalment in the series was published in 1996.

Really?

> bit. In fact, Wordstar and DOS have a couple of advantages over more modern
> hardware and software: probably no Internet connection, no icons, nothing
> buzzing or beeping or flashing at you. In sum, the perfect environment for
> focusing on your writing. Judging by the success of GRRM's books, it's
> working!What old software do you use? Which old technologies do you hang onto
> even as the rest of the world chases the newest update?
>
> Links:
> [1]: http://theweek.com/article/index/261524/george-rr-martin-explains-why-he-writes-his-massive-books-on-a-dos-machine (link)
> [2]: http://georgerrmartin.com (link)
> [3]: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/346732.George_R_R_Martin (link)
> [4]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordStar (link)
> [5]: http://therandymon.com/index.php?/181-Whats-Old-is-New-Again-The-Quest-for-Distraction-Free-Writing.html (link)
>


-- 
[...] They listened at his heart.
Little-less-nothing!-and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
                "Out, Out-", Robert Frost, 1916.

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#2876

On 2014-05-16, Peter Percival <peterxpercival@hotmail.com> wrote:
> RS Wood wrote:
>>  From the «nothing flashing at me» department:
>> Title: Wordstar and Old Software Too Good to Stop Using
>> Author: zafiro17@pipedot.org
>> Date: Wed, 14 May 2014 03:06:54 -0400
>> Link: http://pipedot.org/story/2014-05-14/wordstar-and-old-software-too-good-to-stop-using
>>
>> Every day tech news is rife with stories about the latest and greatest, but
>> some people don't want the latest and greatest; they want their old faves.
>> The blogosphere is buzzing this week with the revelation[1] that George R.R.
>> Martin[2] , the much-admired author of the A Game of Thrones[3] and more,
>> actually does his writing on a DOS machine running the old, 1970s word
>> processor, Wordstar[4] .Should that matter? I don't think so[5] . Not one
>
> Here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27407502 I read
>
>   Disk operating system computers were popular in the 1980s and early
>   1990s.
>
>   And the system remained in widespread use up to around the turn of the
>   century - but some already considered it outdated by the time Martin's
>   first instalment in the series was published in 1996.
>
> Really?

Typical of a certain class of UK journalists I'm afraid, who studied the
arts and appear to be proud of their ignorance of things technical.

-- 
Paul Sture

The final step of #heartbleed recovery is to call your mother, and advise
her to change her maiden name                                  -- @gojomo

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#2860

RS Wood wrote:
>  From  [...]

What does 'still rocks' mean in this context?

-- 
[...] They listened at his heart.
Little-less-nothing!-and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
                "Out, Out-", Robert Frost, 1916.

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#2871

On 2014-05-16, Peter Percival <peterxpercival@hotmail.com> wrote:
> RS Wood wrote:
>>  From  [...]
>
> What does 'still rocks' mean in this context?
>

Sorry, it's an American colloquialism.  "is still
admirable/productive/useful."  Something like that.  "is still awesome,"
something like that.

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#2874

RS Wood wrote:
> On 2014-05-16, Peter Percival <peterxpercival@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> RS Wood wrote:
>>>   From  [...]
>>
>> What does 'still rocks' mean in this context?
>>
>
> Sorry, it's an American colloquialism.  "is still
> admirable/productive/useful."  Something like that.  "is still awesome,"
> something like that.

Thank you.

-- 
[...] They listened at his heart.
Little-less-nothing!-and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
                "Out, Out-", Robert Frost, 1916.

[toc] | [prev] | [standalone]

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