I wanted to share a post from Bryce Nesbitt from 30 years ago that I thought you might get a kick out of. I’ve subscribed to Oldusenet’s servers (
http://olduse.net) where they are replaying usenet posts from 30 years ago. So I’m reading the posts from this date from 1987. I started in early 2016 on comp.sys.amiga which would be from 1986. It has been a real treat to see the Amiga come to life and unfold through these posts. They call it a Realtime Historical Exhibit and it kind of is.
I think what makes it so interesting is that all the main people started posting on here from the beginning. So you have most of the original Amiga creators (RJ, Dale, Kodiak, Glen, Sam, Bob, Rob, etc..) and then a lot of Commodore people like Dave Haynie, George Robbins, Hedley Davis, Bryce Nesbitt, CATS, etc..
Developers and users alike had direct access to the people with the most knowledge of the Amiga from the start. Given the complexity of the Amiga, it was a fantastic resource and many people took advantage of it. George Robbins (who I knew little of before I started reading these groups) would post a slew of messages in a day trying to help people out. Dave Haynie was also incredibly active in helping people.
As most of the original team faded from Usenet the Commodore people really came out in force including people from CATS. I also have been following the Mac and Atari groups and only Apple had some support people post on their groups and even then it was pretty sporadic.
Bryce Nesbitt posted this message to help people with the new terminology of the Amiga. Many people thought execute was like delete/kill and I never thought about it like that until you think of an executioner killing things. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!
:-)
A net smilely. When sprinkled near a statement it indicates that it
was was not meant seriously. "The bombs drop in 5 minutes" -Ronald
Reagan :-)
()
Used to signify a routine. If I talk about Wait(), I am referring to
the routine named "Wait".
$C00000 MEMORY
Memory that sits at location $C00000. Such memory is automatically
added to the memory lists by the V1.2 operating system, yet does not
take up normal auto-config space.
AGNUS
One of the "big three" custom chips inside the Amiga. Controls RAM
addressing, DMA and other timing.
AmigaDOS
Amiga Disk Operating System. Strictly speaking, the part of the Amiga
operating system that controls the file system. Unlike MS-DOS, there
is more to the Amiga operating system that just DOS.
Workbench CLI Programs
\ | /
\ | /
\ | /
\ | /
\ | /
AmigaDOS ;DOS level
/ | \
RAM: DF0: HD0: ;FILE SYSTEM level
| | | ;(managed by handler processes)
memory disk hard disk ;DEVICE level
drive drive ;(managed by device drivers)
Programs may often bypass the DOS level by sending a packet directly to
the proper handler process.
ARP
AmigaDOS Replacement Project. A holy crusade undertaken by Charlie
Heath (of Microsmiths) to implement and distribute a free set of
improved CLI commands, and programmer facilities.
ATOM
A kludge to help developers tell their programs the differences between
FAST and CHIP memory. See FIXHUNK.
AUTO-CONFIG
A system of automatically detecting and configuring memory and hardware
without the need for millions of dip switches or direct user hassle.
Basically, the software will tell the individual board's hardware what
address ranges to respond to, and will resolve conflicts. Not actually
implemented in the Amiga until operating system V1.2.
AUTODOC
A brief, sometimes cryptic, summary of each Amiga library routine is
kept in the actual original source code. These are extracted
automatically by C-A and distributed on paper (in the RKM) or on disk
to programmers.
BOOT
From "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps". To start or restart
one's computer from scratch. With the exception of recoverable RAM
disks, this means loosing all data in memory.
BARREL SHIFTER
The part of the blitter that can shift bit images to arbitrary
boundaries nearly instantly.
BIMMER
BLITTER
A graphics engine that is part of the custom chips. It can do BLITs
(Block Image Transfers) in hardware. Sometimes called a BIMMER (Bitmap
IMmage Manipulator) because it can also do logic operations during the
transfer, line draws, hardware fills, and more.
C-A
Shorthand for Commodore-Amiga, Inc.
CHIP MEMORY
Memory accessible by the custom chips. This contains the frame buffer,
sprites, audio DMA buffers, etc. This memory runs at twice the speed
of the 68000, which normally allows the 68000 to run without delay.
With a very busy display that has lots of extra colors, copper lists,
or blitter moves, this memory can get bogged down with all the extra
work. Fortunately there is an alternative, it's called FAST MEMORY.
CHUNK
See IFF.
CLI
The AmigaDOS Command Line Interpreter. A traditional line oriented DOS
interface. Can be though of as existing "under" the Workbench Tool.
COPPER
Display co-processor. Yet another microprocessor within the Amiga,
this time specialized at for raster synchronization. It only has three
instructions, but since it can access any of the ~100 custom chip
registers it's rather powerful. Easy tricks include changing
resolution on any line, reusing sprites later in a display, modifying
the pallette on the fly, page flipping with no 68000 involvement, etc.
DEAMON
The actual working part of a program that may do it's dirty work while
hidden in the background.
DENISE
One of the "big three" custom chips in the Amiga. Contains the video
output signals, mouse input and misc. timing.
DEVICE, EXEC
Usually a task that that talks directly to some piece of hardware. The
"keyboard.device", for example, reads the keyboard then tells the rest
of the world about it. The "trackdisk.device" is an example of a
device that can have multiple units.
Programs communicate to devices with IO requests, a form of inter-task
communication.
The standard devices are: timer, trackdisk, keyboard, gameport, input,
console, audio, narrator, serial, parallel, and printer. With each
hard drive, SCSI interface, or extra serial port, you will probably get
another exec device.
DEVICE DRIVER
The actual code that a device executes.
EHB
Extra HalfBrite. A video mode that allows 64 colors per line.
Available on all A500s and A2000s, and roughly half of the A1000s.
EXEC
The executive. Master of the Amiga. Controls task switching and low
level system details.
EXECUTE
To command a program or sequence of computer instructions to commence.
Not "put to death".
FAST MEMORY
Memory that is not accessible to the custom chips, and not subject to
possible delay, either. Most quality expansion memory fits in this
category. This is the preferred location for most program code and
data.
FILE SYSTEM
A place to store files. DF0: is one, so is RAM:.
FIXHUNK
A utility. Some older programs for the Amiga where improperly written
and will not work if non-CHIP memory is added. Fixhunk can usually fix
the problem.
GARY
Stands for "Gate ARaY", cute eh? A single custom chip used in the
Amiga 500 that replaces a large number of individual chips from the
original A1000.
GENLOCK
The capability that allows synchronizing of the Amiga's video to an
external source and the overlay of the two images.
GOLDFISH
A intellectual possession of another that is not to be abused, stepped
on, fried or otherwise compromised. :-)
