Date   : Wed, 08 Dec 1982 01:33:16-PST
From   : lauren@Lbl-Unix (Lauren Weinstein [Vortex])
Subject: what are computers for?

Eliot,

You must be kidding.  What do you use ANY micro for? MARC simplyy provides 
a decent environment and a reasonable set of utilities to help enable
the user to comfortably do whatever it is they *want* to do.

Since the environment is reasonable to start with, all the P.D. programs
like DUPUSER, XDIR, D, and a multitude of others are not needed with
MARC, since those programs were efforts to raise CP/M to a more
reasonable level than where it started.  Some of the other useful
programs (like SQ, USQ, DIFF, etc.) now have MARC versions which
are generally more flexible than their CP/M counterparts, since they
can take advantage of those features already in MARC, instead of having
to fight their way around restrictions in CP/M.  Most, if not all,
of these sorts of utilities should be released with the system, assuming
I can get the proper permissions from the original authors.

I will probably not be in a position to read mail again for a couple
of days, so if you have any more questions, please don't expect a terribly
quick reply.  In any case, I might suggest that some of your questions
(particularly the last) might be better handled in private mail or with
a simple phone call.  I don't think it's fair to the other readers
for us to turn this list into a continuous MARC question and answer
session.  Thanks much.

--Lauren--