Re: Goscript for Notabene, XyWrite

["..." adpf@xxxxxxxx]

≪ A question for those of you using Goscript: What advantages does it
 have over Ghostview / Ghostscript? The Ghostscript system can be
 downloaded and used free, I think. The latest version installs
 easily under Win95 even for those of us who know next to nothing
 about the program.  I find it frustratingly slow at printing,
 though. ≫ --Myron

Hi, Myron. I'd already used GoScript for some time when I went online.
I'd heard of Ghostscript and was curious, so looked up the software.
When I read Aladdin's disclaimer that Ghostscript is not for the faint
of heart and that Aladdin doesn't support freeware Ghostscript,
I had no reason to proceed since I was quite satisfied with GoScript.
So, having never used Ghostscript, I can't compare it and GoScript.

I can, however, compare the way Aladdin and LaserGo treat the 'net.
Aladdin has a deal with GNU to give GNU its code, with the GNU version
lagging 18 months behind Aladdin's. Get it? Ghostscript freeware
notwithstanding, Aladdin, like LaserGo, is a commercial developer that
lives on OEM deals and supports its software when it's been bought and
paid for. From its Palo Alto offices, Aladdin directs *freeware*
support queries to comp.lang.postscript, trying to turn PS programmers
into unpaid Aladdin tech support while claiming 80 gazillion users
for sales purposes.

The newsgroup--when I was first online an active forum on PS language
issues with lively exchanges of code--is today just a repository of
Ghostscript squawks. Telling squawkers their queries belong elsewhere
is pointless because each is a one-shot and programmers have abandoned
the newsgroup. Gresham and all that. Far from being some kind of PS
good fairy, imo Aladdin has had a pernicious effect on the language,
parasitically coopting the 'net's only PS programming forum. LaserGo
otoh plays no games, looks constantly for new ways to apply its
technology, maintains an interactive Web site, and imposes on no one.
Whether that, a decent product, and support are worth something is
for others to decide. 	--a

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