Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!mailrus!uflorida!gatech!mcnc!thorin!prins.cs.unc.edu!prins
From: prins@prins.cs.unc.edu (Jan Prins)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.apl
Subject: Re: Is APL a dying language?
Message-ID: <5557@thorin.cs.unc.edu>
Date: 29 Nov 88 16:18:39 GMT
References: <7082@claris.com> <264@blake.acs.washington.edu>
Sender: root@thorin.cs.unc.edu
Lines: 38

from article <7082@claris.com>:
> ... STSC was bought out a while ago and not very interested in the
> APL end-user community.  If you want to time-share and buy services from them
> they are very interested in you.  

> Max Rochlin (claris!max@ames.arc.nasa.gov)

Correct me if I'm wrong (or even if I'm not), but I thought the sequence of
events was that (1) STSC was acquired by CONTEL essentially as a well-
connected (network-wise) data processing center, and (2) was re-acquired
from CONTEL by STSC employees when diversification into the computer industry 
became less attractive a few years back.

STSC still sells time-shared APL (and other service) cycles, but also 
supplies APL*PLUS systems for various configurations of end-user machines.
I imagine they sell where the money is: APL*PLUS/PC for PCs and (a smaller
market) APL*PLUS/UNX for various unix systems and workstations.  The latter 
is a full implementation of APL with nested arrays, native and component
files and plenty of unix interfacing support (Quad-SH, etc.).

This last summer STSC released APL*PLUS II which is a hybrid of the two 
products listed above for 80386 machines:  a fully modern APL system 
with the PC product user-interface.  It is optimized for the 80386 and 
feels at least as fast on a 20mhz Compaq as APL*PLUS/UNX on a 20Mhz Sun-3.

I don't know anything about their Mac product line, but one can always hope
that it might someday evolve in a similar fashion.  There are a lot of Mac IIs
floating around here, but they are used almost exclusively for document 
preparation and illustration.  If this is indicative of the broader market,
then I imagine APL for a MAC would not be a high-volume item.

Jan Prins
Dept. of Computer Science
UNC Chapel Hill

(*) claimers and disclaimers: a trade- or service-mark is held on many of the
capitalized words above by various companies; none of those companies claim
that I am in any way a spokesman for them.  Opinions only; no facts here.