Zune for all platforms

[Daedalus]

I think this is an excellent endeavour - there are too many issues already driving the different camps apart. I should be donating as soon as I get paid

[Daedalus]

But what would be the point of Zune on MorphOS, which already has the latest and greatest MUI ?

Well, if you only ever want your app to run on MorphOS then you are of course free to use MUI 4 and take advantage of its extra features. But it would be a good thing for anyone else who might like the idea of their software being available on all three platforms with a minimum of fuss...

[Daedalus]

@itix

I wonder would it be possible to simply write a wrapper layer which redirects calls from a Zune app to the underlying MUI4? I'm not the world's best programmer, so maybe I don't understand, but surely code could be written to use Zune calls where they live alongside MUI4, perhaps with a modified compiler. Or am I just being naive?

[Daedalus]

The problem is that Zune tries to be a MUI clone, meaning it replaces MUI's libraries, classes, etc. with its own and you can't normally run multiple versions of amiga shared libs, GUI classes, etc. at the same time for compatibility with specific app version dependencies (where binary app X needs version Y but breaks with version Y+1 and higher.)

A workable morphos version of zune would basically install nothing to  some little bit for zune internals that practically nobody really uses,  because they prefer to use the already port-ably defined MUI functions.

This is what I was saying about maybe a Zune API with something like _zune_ prefix, so instead of opening mui.library or BetterString.mcc, you open _zune_mui.library or _zune_BetterString.mcc. Surely a simple prefix like that could be implemented as a compiler directive in a modified compiler, and so would require a minimum of porting effort. The _zune_ libraries could then either pass through to the relevant real MUI library, or implement their own routines if incompatible.

This would also allow it to run on OS4, just in case there are issues with the modified MUI3.9 included in Update 3...

[Daedalus]

I don't think the aim was ever to replace MUI4 on MorphOS, and I really don't think it's anywhere near as big a deal as some of the arguments are making out. With a Zune compatibility layer on MorphOS and OS4, it makes it very easy for a developer to write an app for all three platforms. MorphOS itself and all the existing and future MOS-only apps can still use MUI4 for what they need, muimaster.library and what not, and any apps compiled with Zune header files can use the similar-but-different z_muimaster.library. It doesn't interfere with the system at all, but offers an extremely easy route for porting apps between all systems. What's not to like there? Or do some people have a fear of not having a "pure" system or something?