• SemPoint.. FYI

    From Martin Foster@2:310/31.3 to August Abolins on Tue May 21 13:08:00 2019
    Hello August!

    ## 05.05.19 at 02:11, August Abolins wrote to Martin Foster:

    [snip]
    But.. as you found out, it is 16bit and thus not likely a
    candidate for regular use? Still looking forward to hear if
    SemPoint will cooperate in Linux under Wine.

    Not bothering with Wine because I've managed to get hold of a
    legitimate copy of a Win7(32-Bit)ISO and installed it in a VM. So far,
    I've installed SemPoint, fired it up and had a *very* quick look
    round. Immediate impressions are, I don't care much for the GUI, it's
    a bit Win 95'ish. However, I'll have a good look round as and when
    time permits and see what I can make of it all.

    Regards,
    Martin

    --- OpenXP 5.0.38
    * Origin: Bitz-Box - Bradford - UK (2:310/31.3)
  • From August Abolins@2:221/1.59 to Martin Foster on Tue May 21 22:34:47 2019
    Hello Martin,

    On 21.05.19, you wrote..

    ..Still looking forward to hear if SemPoint will cooperate
    in Linux under Wine.

    Not bothering with Wine because I've managed to get hold of a
    legitimate copy of a Win7(32-Bit)ISO and installed it in a VM. So far, I've installed SemPoint, fired it up and had a *very* quick look round. Immediate impressions are, I don't care much for the GUI, it's a bit
    Win 95'ish. However, I'll have a good look round as and when time permits and see what I can make of it all.

    I know what you mean by the "Win 95'ish" GUI. But the "look" is primarily established by the icons in the toolbar/speedbar. It is very much like Apoint's GUI, IMHO.

    And.. you can change the fonts from the defaults.

    Sempoint has a closer relationship to Apoint's features. For one example, Sempoint's "Speed bar" is Apoint's "Toolbar". A neat thing with Sempoint's version is that you can move it to the side or to the bottom.

    Take your time. There are a *lot* adjustments you can make in the top Configuration menu. And.. I think you will be impressed with the fairly complete context-sensitive help. The Help is totally searchable too.


    ../|ug

    --- WinPoint Beta 5 (359.1)
    * Origin: Please write your complaint in this box [ ] - Legibly (2:221/1.59)
  • From August Abolins@2:221/1.59 to Martin Foster on Sun May 26 01:22:34 2019
    Hello Martin!

    On 5/21/2019, Martin Foster wrote to August Abolins:

    SemPoint will cooperate in Linux under Wine.

    Not bothering with Wine because I've managed to get hold of a
    legitimate copy of a Win7(32-Bit)ISO and installed it in a VM.

    I thought Wine would be a handy "utility" that most linux users would like to have.

    Good to know that Win/16bit progs can still eke out a modest lifespan on WinXX/64bit OS if necessary.

    Meanwhile.. I loaded SEM into my Win7/32 pc. Win7 automatically implements NTVDM without adjustments. SEM installed quiet smoothly. Looks good.

    Now, all I need to do is to bolt on a tosser to operate SEM as a true point.


    ../|ug

    --- APoint 1.25
    * Origin: ASCII stupid question, get stupid ANSI. (2:221/1.59)
  • From Martin Foster@2:310/31.3 to August Abolins on Sun May 26 11:48:00 2019
    Hello August!

    ## 26.05.19 at 01:22, August Abolins wrote to Martin Foster:

    SemPoint will cooperate in Linux under Wine.

    Not bothering with Wine because I've managed to get hold of a
    legitimate copy of a Win7(32-Bit)ISO and installed it in a VM.

    I thought Wine would be a handy "utility" that most linux users would
    like to have.

    Maybe/maybe not and from my brief experiences with "Wine", I wouldn't
    touch it with the proverbial barge pole.

    Good to know that Win/16bit progs can still eke out a modest lifespan on WinXX/64bit OS if necessary.

    Yep.

    Meanwhile.. I loaded SEM into my Win7/32 pc. Win7 automatically implements NTVDM without adjustments. SEM installed quiet smoothly. Looks good.

    Yeah, looks good here too.

    Now, all I need to do is to bolt on a tosser to operate SEM as a true point.

    I can recommend CrashMail but you already know about that and don't
    forget you'll need binkD as well.

    Regards,
    Martin

    --- OpenXP 5.0.38
    * Origin: Bitz-Box - Bradford - UK (2:310/31.3)
  • From August Abolins@2:221/1.58 to Martin Foster on Mon May 27 00:51:00 2019
    Hello Martin!

    ** 26.05.19 - 11:48, Martin Foster wrote to August Abolins:

    I thought Wine would be a handy "utility" that most linux users would
    like to have.

    Maybe/maybe not and from my brief experiences with "Wine", I wouldn't
    touch it with the proverbial barge pole.

    I don't think I ever heard much negative about Wine. It performed really well with an MS Office 2007 Suite install on a linux pc I was playing with just a few months ago. Infact, it worked *too* well! The install was successful and registered OK. But that little experiment used up one of
    my volume licenses that I was planning for a better replacement pc. But I digress..

    In general, I didn't need much use for Wine in the past. I usually found
    fine native linux apps that were worthy of their Windows counterparts.


    Now, all I need to do is to bolt on a tosser to operate SEM as a true
    point.

    I can recommend CrashMail but you already know about that and don't
    forget you'll need binkD as well.

    Looks like I will have to forgo CrashMail. It only does .MSG and JAM.

    JAM is not cooperating on my SemPoint (see previous posts about this).

    My journey with WinPoint, Apoint, OXP, and now SemPoint is to find a good "solution" to demonstrate and promote what fidonet messaging is all about, but avoid too many "bolting on" of additional support programs.

    But there a modest trade-off required since almost every practical program worth using today is of a retro-nature (that is, either 16bit, not
    supported, lacking integrattion with internet transfer, other limitations, etc.)

    It's more like refurbishing an old car with aftermarket parts and make it roadworthy and hopefully practical and still fun to drive.


    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.38
    * Origin: o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o§ø`ø§o,,,,o (2:221/1.58)