Well I hope this article has been of some use to somebody and at least of some interest to others. If anyone has any further thoughts or comments, I am sure the editor would be pleased to receive them (he may even publish them). I have submitted the two programs I mentioned (GENHLP &; GENOVLY) for possible inclusion in Scorpio Systems utility disks along with the source of the code to handle their output. Alternatively, they are available from myself at the address given below. Please send £5 to cover postage etc. and specify the format you require (Gemini/​Nascom 5.25″ formats only).

Robert Pearce
_ _________ ____
Newbury
Berks
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Public Domain Software – a note of caution

by P.D.Coker

Some readers will have made use of freely available, low cost software obtained from user or special interest groups, or purchased through one or other of the firms which advertise in the glossier magazines. In most cases, no guarantee is given that the software which you have purchased will rum on your particular machine and the amount of information which is available in the advertisements or disk a contents listings is inadequate.

Some of this program material is truly public domain – donated in a spirit of generosity by the author and available for the cost of a disk and a copying charge. Other software is known as Shareware, and is either fully-functional (but not always the most up-to-date version) or restricted in some way. To get the maximum benefit from Shareware, you are usually invited to register by sending in an appropriate amount of cash after trying it out. You will then receive an updated or de-restricted version and, in many cases, a detailed manual. In some cases, the author relies on your good nature to send a donation if you like his/​her program and intend to use it. It is a sad fact that some so-called PD software distributors charge far more than the copying and handling charge but equally, one should be careful of so-called low-cost offers since the quality of the disks can be poor and may damage your drives. The majority of such PD software is for MSDOS although one or two sources also offer CP/M programs.