Date   : Mon, 05 Feb 1990 16:44:30 EST
From   : SAGE@LL.LL.MIT.EDU
Subject: JRT Pascal doc wanted

Chuck Fuller asked:

>> If anyone has the original loose-leaf docs and wouldn't mind sharing,
>> I'd gladly pay any repro & mailing costs.

   I have not looked in a long time, but I am pretty sure that I have
a copy of the JRT Pascal manual sitting in my archives in the basement.
I know that I gave away one copy, but I think I had two.  You can also
get them in file form, probably from SIMTEL20.

   One other comment I would make is that I got very badly burned from
bugs in JRT on a very important project.  Turbo Pascal is far superior
in my opinion, and it is available again at $60, complete with an
improved looseleaf manual.  If you are not all that serious about
Pascal and are working on a tight budget, then JRT might be the way to
go.  Otherwise, I would recommend switching to Turbo.

>> General question for discussion: I seem to recall being invited to
>> Chapter 11 proceedings shortly after receiving my copy of JRT Pascal.

   JRT really did go out of business.  Tyson tried again under the name
Mystic Valley Pascal (I believe), but as far as I knew he never really
delivered on that product.  There were early versions, but they never
worked well and never provided the features he claimed in his ads.  Once
I learned that JRT was behind Mystic, I stayed away from it.

   When the first ads appeared for Turbo Pascal at an absurdly low price,
I was quite sceptical but decided to take a chance.  I never regretted that
decision, and have been very happy with Borland products (for the most part)
ever since.  Turbo Pascal was a top quality product at rock bottom price,
and that is probably why Borland is what it is today (and, conversely, why
JRT is what it is today).

   I believe that you will find both the code and the manuals for JRT in
the archives on SIMTEL20.  Years ago you would have found it on CP/M remote
systems, but I doubt that any of us would waste the disk space on it today.

-- Jay Sage