ten questions about chessoclock 0.3.0
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1. What is chessoclock?
2. What is chessoflop?
3. Why tarball and source directory are named "cock" instead of the
full name?
4. How do I compile and install it?
5. The code of the previous versions was full of macros and
switches about bcc. Now I can't find them. Why?
6. Why does chessoclock.c use so many macros instead of functions?
7. Can I use chessoclock for a world championship match?
8. Is it possible to write new fonts?
9. What operating systems are supported?
10. What license applies to this software and how can I get in touch
with its developer?
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1. What is chessoclock?
chessoclock is a simple chess clock running on a virtual terminal. It
supports an user defined time amount and increment per move as well as
extra time and all the features of a Fischer clock.
chessoclock is no longer based on the curses library. Install it on your
(even old old old) laptop and you can have a chess clock everywhere in
every moment. Under Linux only it can run in a xterm, but you get best
visual effect when running in a virtual terminal or on the console and
not under X.
2. What is chessoflop?
chessoflop turns your twenty years old 80286 into a chess clock without
installing anything. Reverse the image on a floppy, put that disk on
your old computer, turn it on and that's all!
To be technical, it is a slightly modified Minix 2.0.4 ROOT.MNX disk
containing and (self) executing chessoclock.
New version will be released at least on every major update of
chessoclock.
To reverse chessoflop on a disk use the dd utility under Unix as usual,
according to your operating system device names. Linux example:
# dd if=COFLPxxx.MNX of=/dev/fd0
Remember two things:
1. the triple xxx in COFLPxxx.MNX must be substituted by the
version number (actually, the same name as the file you
downloaded);
2. run dd as root!
Windows users know rawwrite (http://www.chrysocome.net/rawwrite) is
their friend.
If you have got a very old laptop in the attic you can reverse the image
on a dusty floppy and donate everything to your local chess club.
3. Why tarball and source directory are named "cock" instead of the
full name?
The development of chessoclock since release 0.2.0 has been focused on
Minix. The choice to short its paths and tarball name to "cock" is a
necessity on Minix 2.0.x where file names can be at most 14 bytes in
size.
Due to the small amount of data in the tarball there is no need to
compress it by gzip or bzip2. This means the source are immediately
available for compilation on Minix 2.0.x
It were possible to compress in the .Z format but this is sometimes
confusing for gui-ed programs decompression nowadays.
4. How do I compile and install it?
After decompressing the tarball, you can notice there is a Makefile and
a GNUmakefile.
The Makefile is intended to work with Minix make(1). If you plan to
compile and run under Minix, please read carefully README.minix
On systems other than Minix, every step involving Makefile in this
document must be "substituted" with GNUmakefile.
Before compiling, edit the Makefile to choose a suitable installation
tree (in other words: set PREFIX). However, default settings should be
ok. Then type `make' and later `make install' as root. That's all!
chessoclock proudly compiles with no warnings on ACK (16 and 32 bits),
clang (32 bits) and gcc (32 and 64 bits).
5. The code of the previous versions was full of macros and
switches about bcc. Now I can't find them. Why?
I started a port to Elks in order to reach the goal of having a 720kB
floppy disk containing not much more than a 16 bit i86 kernel and
chessoclock in a pure GPL environment. I had several headaches with
libcurses implementation and in the meanwhile the Elks project stalled
for six years.
After the removal from my code of any imported GPLed files, I had no
longer the need to develop for a pure GPL environment and I switched to
Minix 2.0.4 as the base for a 16 bit operating system to launch
chessoclock from a single floppy disk.
6. Why does chessoclock.c use so many macros instead of functions?
Because of accuracy. In the main loop chessoclock waits for a keyboard
timeout or character. Although the timeout is handled by a system call
involving the kernel, it's better to speed up the execution avoiding
every unnecessary push, pop, jp and ret.
The result is harder to debug, but more realtime-like.
7. Can I use chessoclock for a world championship match?
In short: no.
chessoclock runs on time sharing operating system. In the long run it
will result slower than an atomic clock. On Minix, where it is not
possible to shut down the typematic, the anti-bouncing algorithm will
block opponent clock as long as you keep the finger on the keyboard.
This doesn't mean chessoclock is less accurate than budget chess clocks.
8. Is it possible to write new fonts?
It's not possible to write new fonts for the current version of
chessoclock.
The code I wrote to build the font included in this package is not well
tested and sometimes it shows nasty bugs. I'll publish it in some later
version, as soon as I'll refine it.
9. What operating systems are supported?
0.3.0 compiles and runs on:
- Ubuntu Linux 11.10 (i386 and x86_64)
- Minix-86 2.0.4
- Minix 3.0.18
- Minix 3.2.0
0.2.0 compiles and runs on:
- Ubuntu Linux 11.04
- FreeBSD 6.3 i386
- OpenBSD 4.8 i386
- Minix-86 2.0.2 and 2.0.4
- Minix 3.0.18
0.1.2 compiles and runs on:
- Slackware Linux 9.x
- Darwin Version 7.3.0
- OpenBSD 3.4 i386
Of course this doesn't mean it will not compile and run on other
systems.
Please, note that chessoclock since version 0.3.0 handles the screen
fonts directly and this is OS dependant. So there are no chances to make
it properly work on *BSD or Darwin.
10. What license applies to this software and how can I get in touch
with its developer?
As of chessoclock is a Minix-focused program, the most natural license
would be a BSD-style one. Once I got rid of all the code I stole from
glibc, the more coherent choice was to switch licence from GPL to BSD 2.
And that's it. The license is included in this package.
My e-mail address is: shining at linuxcondom dot net
Congratulations, advice and greetings are always welcomed.
Complains are welcomed as well if supported by a donation.
