There have been many flavors of Unix type systems for many platforms over the years, but there have been few for the Apple II. However in this world of bleak shortsightedness, there has been one project that gained the recognition of many in the Apple world. GNO/ME
What is GNO/ME? It is a nice Unix style system for the Apple II GS which ran on top of the Apple II GS OS allowing multitasking of text based windows and was not only a main stay for many users but was also a good idea which seems to have died. Consider the following press release from Procyon Enterprises, Inc, which was the main supporter of the system:
As the man behind Procyon Enterpsises Inc., a long-time Apple IIGS developer and one of the last commercial developers for the platform, I regret to announce the end to sales of my first product, the GNO Multitasking Environment (GNO/ME).
With my last distributor, EGO Systems, closing its doors, I cannot justify the time and expense of continuing to produce the software. I also didn’t feel it was fair to the customers to continue to charge them for the product, when I would be unable to support them in the manner I would like, due to my intense involvement in my new ISP business.
However, instead of simply stopping sales of GNO and letting the software wander into oblivion, I am placing GNO into “freeware” status, and I am also making available all source code to the 2.0.4 version to the public and the development community.
I will still sell printed manuals to anyone who wants one, for $20 or so, but this is just to cover printing and shipping costs. Purchasing a manual will not entitle the buyer to support from me of GNO/ME.
Anyone who paid the normal $89 price to EGO Systems (or to me directly) for GNO will continue to receive support from me, and I will rely partly on the help of the “GNO- Devel” list for assistance in this support.
Speaking of that, Devin Reade heads the “GNO Devel” list, and its members are programmers who have the time and devotion to continuing to develop the GNO system. To their capable hands I leave the software. The first task of this group is to put together a GNO distribution based on the latest ORCA/C and ORCA/C libraries. Devin will post follow-up info on csa2g and any inquiries should be directed to him at <gdr@eddore.myrias.com> for the moment.
Thank you all for your support in the past of my company and myself, and best wishes to you all for the future!
Regards,
Jawaid Bazyar
President, Procyon Enterprises Inc. President,
Interlink Advertising Services Inc.
This change in status of GNO/ME from commercial ware to freeware had the effect for a time of creating a bit of a following, which eventually came out with a new version of GNO/ME (version 2.06) to include TCP/IP support. The package had a fairly good size following and even has its own USENET discussion group in the comp.sys.apple2 group. As well as a web and ftp site at ftp.gno.org. This web site since the release of version 2.06 has not been updated.
While many systems including Linux have been developed for the Mac and other systems, the GNO/ME development seems to have died. There is still a development mailing list for the product supported by Devin Reade, but lately, most developers seem to be more into finding other products for their machines or even just retiring their Apple II’s to the junk heap or the closet.
If development of this system were to be revived, it would definitely be a welcome addition to the Apple world. There are many engineers who have developed newer network cards for this system and hard drives are now available in many different forms which are comparable to many of the main line machines.
Occasionally you find someone out there who still works on the system, however, with schools and almost everyone else dumping their old Apple II’s, it appears that the GNO/ME environment is gone forever. The only comparable item that is currently being worked on is RTDOS but unfortunately, RTDOS is not Unix.
GNO/ME Resources on the net
http://www.hypermall.com/compa nies/procyon/
Procyon Enterprises web site. This is the original home of the GNO/ME product and support.
This is the web page for the GNO consortium, which rose out of the reclassification of the GNO product.
This is the link to the Trenco GNO ftp archive. The archive not only includes the product but also many extensions added to the product by many users and developers.
http://www.a2central.com/feature s/2000-09/09-pascal/
Information about using the ORCA/Pascal programming environment with the GNO/ME system.
http://www.faerealm.com/Users/p hoenix/computers/gno/
An easy to use interface for finding items within the GNO/ME archives. It includes specification about each item including author and date as well as a short description of the item.
This is the ftp archive for the complete GNO/ME resource. If you don’t find it here, it probably doesn’t exist unless it is an obscure commercial package.
