WebsterXL

Switching back and forth – ro4.02 & ro5.25 – with WebsterXL – is there any reason – for different
!Scrap directories?

Are there any updates available for WebsterXL? I’ve pulled my old version out from years ago it’s from the late 1990s!

I always assumed as it was still on the RComp website it was still being sold as a full commercial product.

Hi Matt, sorry to take so long to reply – missed this one.

WXL isn’t actually sold any more – we haven’t taken money for it for a long time (I’d say in excess of 10 years, probably close to 15). It comes free with a few of our products (eg. it’s free on the NetFetch CD and also supplied free with HTMLEdit Studio) for curious folks. Anyone with an existing version is entitled to a free update to the final release (26 or 32bit, your choice) simply by dropping us an email and asking.

I’ve avoided just putting it up for free download, as I didn’t really want to deal with any tech support arising. The web has moved on so much since WXL was last updated that its usefulness (beyond reading the odd HTML email or something) is quite minimal.

I’ve avoided just putting it up for free download, as I didn’t really want to deal with any tech support arising. The web has moved on so much since WXL was last updated that its usefulness (beyond reading the odd HTML email or something) is quite minimal.

You could ask for a small spot on the riscos.fr setup and include the source for any interested person to play with. Of course if it has intrinsic value then perhaps not.

I’ve avoided just putting it up for free download, as I didn’t really want to deal with any tech support arising.

Modify the Templates to have the Info window display, in bright red, “THIS SOFTWARE IS SUPPLIED AS-IS, NO SUPPORT IS OFFERED.” or words to that effect? That will then give you the ability to say “no” if somebody asks for assistance (which they inevitably will). It says quite clearly… ;-)

since WXL was last updated

I emailed the author a while back to ask if he would consider releasing the sources. The usual response – zip, nada, nothing. It’s probably on a floppy disc in the back of a drawer in a closet that was given away to charity two house moves ago; so now it’s in the cellar of somebody who wouldn’t recognise an Acorn computer if they got hit over the head with it, and if you magically managed to find the floppy you’d need to deal with the cobwebs, the mouse pee, and the mildew.

Well, that’s my personal opinion of where old source goes to die. Sure as hell seems like a lot of stuff from the 26 bit era has been forgotten. Only The Big Things still live on. Some of them, at least…

its usefulness (beyond reading the odd HTML email or something) is quite minimal.

You… might want to look up a browser called Arachne, or ask somebody who still uses Lynx. While there’s a lot of stuff that cannot be done with the likes of NetSurf (and even less with WXL), there is equally a lot of stuff that remote systems cannot do to us. Sponging off our machine for cryptomining? Good luck with that. Running covert script to see what’s happening inside the local network (some banks actually do this!), good luck with that. Timed scripts to plaster a dozen porn sites on the screen? Heh, yeah. Can’t see that working.

We’re not immune to the crap that goes on (I notice that there appears to be no way to tell NetSurf to reject 3rd party cookies, in fact I can’t find cookie setup at all), but an even better solution to aggressive script and advert blocking is, quite simply, a browser too stupid to manage such things at all.

Plus, a web browser, written in BASIC. Come on, geek points right there…

if somebody asks for assistance (which they inevitably will).

Sure will. I once released a “completely unsupported” app and had a support request within 20 minutes.

As I said, Andrew Pullan comes to every RISC OS show and helps on the stand. He has an ARMX6 and I very much doubt his source is down the back of the sofa ;) I know it’s a trek for Rick, but if anyone is coming to London, Andrew will be on the stand (all being well) – come by and say hello! :)

I know it’s a trek for Rick

It’s not so much a trek as damned near impossible. I don’t drive, and I live in the sort of place that has a weekly bus service. ;-)

Which I guess is quite a shame given other recent news.

Plus, a web browser, written in BASIC. Come on, geek points right there…

True. It could attract some amateur developers too.

You… might want to look up a browser called Arachne

Isn’t that still being developed, or at least commercial software still? I liked Arachne. I used to use it on an abomination of a 386, with an FPU from a laptop which violently exploded, and an EMS card from a 286. It was like hitting a wall but it was better than running out of RAM.