Kaffe on SCO

[Don Arbow]

: >Some companies just make solutions, while other companies make
: >excuses.
: >
: > - joaquin
:
: I have no connection with cygnus, but I had to step in here because
: this comment bothers me.  Metrowerks does not have the additional
: burden that their tools are versions of free tools.
:
: Cygnus is a bunch of heroic geniuses that are trying to make
: money in consultancy while simultaneously contributing to the
: free software community.
:
: If they want to price thier compilers out of reach of high-maintenance
: mass-market customers, more power to them.

Metrowerks started out as a Fortran compiler maker for the Mac, but could
end up as the leading cross-platform development company on the planet.
You're quite right in that Metrowerks is catering to the "mass-market" of
developers.  But given that the Apple technology is heading toward Next and
Unix (code named Rhapsody), Metrowerks is getting into the spirit.

First, they have bought Latitude.  This allows Mac programmers to port
their existing applications into the Unix environment.  Adobe used this
technology to quickly port Premiere to SGI and Photoshop to Solaris.
Metrowerks plans to use this Latitude technology to port their own IDE to
Rhapsody.

Second, their IDE is considered very robust with the ability to plugin
front and backends for just about any purpose.   Metrowerks is funding GNU
compiler and linker plugins that will work with the IDE.  Once developed,
the code for the plugins will be given back to FSF so that anyone can build
any sort of GNU compiler/linker that works with the Metrowerks IDE.

This plugin technology will spawn lots of possibilities.  You'll be able to
match your language of choice with the silicon of your choice.

BTW, Metrowerk's IDE goes by the name of CodeWarrior, thought to be a bit
presumptuous when it first debuted 3 years ago, but with future prospects
could be very appropriately named.

Don