Re: LYNX-DEV extension languages for Lynx

[Doug Kaufman]

On Mon, 5 Jan 1998, Andrew Kuchling wrote:

>       * The constraint of DOS compatibility is a problem; as Lynx
> gets bigger and bigger, it gets harder to make things work on DOS.
> Should DOS users be abandoned, and told "Well, you've got the DOS port
> of Lynx 2.7, and that's it for you."?  Then development could focus on
> 32-bit platforms: Win95, MacOS, Unix, and VMS if anyone has access to
> it.

I am not sure what you mean by "it gets harder to make things work on
DOS".  The main port work was done by Wayne some time ago.  Since then,
as problems were discovered they were fixed so that the DOS port of lynx
now works better than it ever has. In general, memory is not a problem.
DJGPP creates protected mode programs that run using a DPMI manager.  I
think that the main DOS lynx problem now is the lack of a functioning
ftp module.  The porting problems seem most related to the 8+3
filesystem, which can generally be worked around, and to the nonstandard
libraries, PDCurses and WATTCP.  Perhaps one of these days a PDCurses or
WATTCP guru will decide to work on lynx and fix these problems.  In the
meantime, the most egregious problems with PDCurses and WATTCP have been
fixed, so that the ftp problem seems to be the main remaining obstacle
to getting the DOS port functioning well.

Perhaps the increased traffic about DOS problems makes it seem like
there are major problems.  The recent discussion has been more about
making the port more funtional for those who don't use ported unix
utilities for non-lynx work. I believe that most of those involved in 
porting lynx to DOS have used unix-type utilities, so were not aware of
the problems until recently.  The fixes are relatively minor, however.

The DOS port now works well with URL types http, telnet, tn3270, and 
gopher. A kludge for ftp via EXTERNAL will open a standard FTP session
in the directory where the link points.  As far as I know, news and
finger don't work.  Displaying most types of graphic files works well,
and sound can be played as well.
                            Doug
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Doug Kaufman
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