geoSpecific
The GEOS PD/Shareware CD V1.6

Welcome to the geoSpecific GEOS PD/Shareware CD.

If you aren't sure what GEOS is or what it can be used for then you should read the GEOS FAQ.

The inspiration for this CD came from the 2 CD’s that Gaelyne Gasson offers on the VideoCam Web Site (http://cbm.videocam.net.au/ ). When I ordered these CD’s from Gaelyne I was surprised that the GeoManiacs Collection of disks, created by Gaelyne and marketed by Commodore CEE, weren’t on either of the CD’s.

Initially, I thought that I would make the GeoManiacs Collection available on the download page on my CUE web site (http://members.shaw.ca/cue64) but I don't have that much space available. Gaelyne asked if I could create a CD with the GeoManiacs files so she could have the disks in that format. So I set about creating D64 images of the 16 double-sided 1541 disks I had in my possession. It turned out that I am a GeoManiac myself.

With the hardware and software advances that keep occurring for the Commodore 64, and in particular for GEOS users, I felt it was time to take my collection of software and put it onto a CD. I am expecting the next version of Wheels will be able to read files directly from the CD-ROM drive. I also expect that The Wave will be able to browse the files on a CD the same way a PC user can with a browser. For that reason I have created the main Index System in HTML (although, for the most part, the same files are available as text files). CD-ROM Commander 128 can also read the HTML files so there are many options to view the files on the CD and navigate through the information.

What, Why and How

I have been using GEOS since March, 1988 and have amassed a fair number of programs over that time. The collections on this CD came from many sources. Some were once commercial offerings that have since been released to the Public Domain. Some of the disks accompanied magazines or came as part of a User Group membership. Other, more recent creations, have been downloaded from the Internet.

My own GEOS programming contributions on this CD include a Game and a Lottery Number Picker in the Games section plus a Metric Converter in the Various section. These programs were written in GeoBASIC. This should tell you that my forte' is not in the programming arena of the GEOS world. Rather, my main contribution has been writing articles and columns for a variety of publications. Initially I did not have my articles included on the CD but Todd Elliott suggested that these articles would enhance the material on the CD by providing insight into uses of GEOS and some of the many programs included here. I took Todd's suggestion to heart and dug out articles that have appeared in publications such as The UnderGround, The LoadStar Letter, Commodore World, GO64! and The LUCKY Report, to name a few, as well as some other articles that have never been published anywhere. All of these articles appear on the CD along with accompanying graphics and related programs where appropriate. In addition, my English translation of the GeoDOS System documentation appears on the CD with GeoDOS V2.95.

I have included the tools necessary to take the files on the CD and turn them back into usable GEOS disks. Most of the D64 and D81 images on this CD were created using Bo Zimmerman's GeoBEAP and then transferred to a PC using GeoDOS and an FD-2000 disk drive. Some of the D64 images were created using Joe Forster's Star Commander software (http://sta.c64.org/sc.html) and a 1541 disk drive hooked directly to a PC with an X1541 cable.

The file structure on the CD is as follows. Each major author or collection has been put into its own main folder. The main folder for each holds the HTML Index file and an HTML file for each disk image in that collection. A sub-folder called Files holds the actual disk images along with text files containing the same info as the HTML files in the root folder. The text files are directory listings created with John F. Howard's GeoList 2.0. These files (GeoWrite 1.0 format) were opened with GeoWrite V2.0 and then converted to PC format .TXT files with GeoDOS as the files were copied to a PC formatted floppy (this conversion will not work on the original GeoWrite files as created by GeoList). The text files were then turned into HTML files using Sun MicroSystems OpenOffice.Org HTML Editor.

It may seem obvious but I have to mention this. While all of these disks and files are part of my personal collection of GEOS software I have not tested or tried all of these programs and can't offer any warranty or guarantee as to their useability or suitability for any particular task. Where documentation exists please be sure to read it prior to using the programs. If you can't locate any documentation please be sure to test the programs on non-critical files or disks prior to using the files or programs on Boot Disks or original Data Files that you rely on.

Your Help is Needed

At the moment, this collection is over 85 MBs in size. I am asking for your help in making this the most complete collection of GEOS PD/Shareware software.

For starters, if you know that some software included here is not PD or Shareware please let me know and I will take it off of the CD.

Secondly, if you have GEOS PD/Shareware software that is not included on this CD please send it to me. The easiest method would be to make a D64 image and e-mail it to me at rbthomas@edmc.net. I will then add the software to the next version of the CD. Check the CUE Web Site for other news and updates.

If you don't have access to e-mail you can always Snail Mail copies of your disks to me at:

Bruce Thomas
5528-142A Ave
Edmonton, AB, Canada, T5A 1J8

Thanks in advance for your help in preserving as much of the GEOS software as we can.

enGEOy this CD!

May 25, 2004
Bruce Thomas

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