Jonathan wrote:
Same desk, same computer, same logon.
Ah so, it's really the same job! I had the same thing happen to me. After MITRE folded here in Houston (they're still alive and well in Washington and Boston) I tried writing books for a while. When it was clear that I couldn't support the family that way, I went back to NASA and signed on with Unisys, who subcontracted with Rockwell, the big shuttle contractor. When the United Space Alliance was formed by Rockwell and the NASA contract was redone, one week before the contract was to begin, Unisys was told they weren't going to be given a subcontract. We all exchanged our Unisys badges for U.S.A badges. as you said, "Same desk, same computer, same logon.", and even, in my case, the same first-line management.
Do you have pixel-by-pixel update set? If so, unset it!
That's it. Geesh!! That changes my whole attitude toward Winfract. That means if we complete the merging you started it could actually be a usable program.
This *is* a hobby, after all. The goal is to give you something to think about that isn't work related.
That's one goal, and an important one. In my case I've been with the project for so long (about 17 years!!!, and if memory serves you've been on it just about as long) I have another purpose. Fractint is one of the longest running open source programs ever, and if it can continue to be usable and provide pleasure to people, I take a certain pride in that. In addition, I one of the big
Sadly, I can see the day where we have to leave the DOS code and only develop WinFract and Xfractint. Once we implement png support, for example.
That wouldn't make me sad. The medium memory model is a huge constraint that holds us back, as is the fact that we use old software tools nobody has (though I'll bet it could be ported to Open Watcom, which has a medium memory model). What would make me sad is leaving behind any significant functionality, or having the program be rendered unusable by the onrushing of technology, which quite frankly I expected a long time ago, but it hasn't quite happened yet.
What has occurred to me, which may be incorrect, is that to go to WxWindows will require a complete rewrite of the WinFract Windows code.
Something I would like to do, now that I've looked at the Windows source, is to rewrite the main loop in Xfractint in a similar fashion.
If the main loop is done correctly, we'll have a lot more freedom to implement different GUIs. Tim