Live from Austin!

Microsoft has announced its new tenets to “promote competition”, so I thought I’d take a look at them. I wasn’t impressed.

1. Installation of any software. Computer manufacturers and customers are free to add any software to PCs that run Windows.

Translation: “Your computer belongs to you, not us.”

Yes, you’re actually allowed to install any software you like on the computer you build or purchase. It’s hard to believe that Microsoft even have to write this down. That they feel it’s some kind of new principle to apply “going forward” is a shocking admission.

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Spent most of the afternoon in a futile attempt to get the Palm OS development kit working. I’ve probably wasted several days on it, in fact. I tried installing it under Linux, but couldn’t get the emulator to run, and didn’t fancy debugging on the Palm I use for all my important data. Yesterday I tried MiNT, but Palm don’t seem to document where to install the library and include files for a UNIX system. I guess if you’re not intimately familiar with the configuration of a multi-target GCC install, they don’t want you developing software for them. It didn’t help that I was working with a gcc binary built using an unknown config by someone whose web page makes it clear that he’s not in the mood to ask questions.

You might be wondering why I don’t give in and buy CodeWarrior. Well, I feel that $400 a year is a ludicrous amount to pay for a compiler, especially to write free software with in my spare time.

I’d write in Java and use Jikes to compile, but I’d need to install a couple of hundred kilobytes of Java runtime, and (see below).