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** October, 1998                                        Version 2.0 **
**                     ATARI XL/XE CD-ROM PROJECT TOO               **
**                           "XL/XE POOLDISK"                       **
**                        by Bo and Ernest Schreurs                 **
**                                                                  **
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Bringing this POOLDISK TOO project to completion took us a bit longer
than we thought it would.  Then again, when we released the first
POOLDISK, we were not even sure that people would actually be
interested in it.  At that time, we did not anticipate that we would
really be creating another one.  We did invite people to send us
additional shareware that was not yet on the POOLDISK.  We received
very little material.  The stuff that we did get was accepted
gratefully.  Then we actively started to ask people to help us.  Over
this period, interest in Atari computers in general and Classic Atari
computers in particular was further declining.  On the other hand,
more and more users that used to own an Atari system are starting to
relive those memories using some sort of an emulator.  These users are
even digging up their old equipment to see if it still works.  The
Internet has contributed somewhat to this by connecting people and
making them aware that there are still a lot of users out there that
just do not want to give up on this unique computer.  It seems that
this leads to an increase in the demand for software.  The decline of
membership made most usergroups dissolve and disappear.  The public
domain libraries that were managed by librarians were no longer
needed, since there were no users left that wanted to buy disks.  The
disks in these libraries were simply put in some basement or attic.
That is a shame, since some of these libraries contain programs
written by local users, that were not widely spread troughout the
world.  These programs deserve to be known to the world.  We managed
to get in touch with some usergroups, but for most usergroups, it has
become very hard to find someone that is still actively involved in
Atari computing.

The ABBUC user group from Germany helped us a lot by sending us most
of the disks we did not yet buy from their library.  They also allowed
us to add all their older magazine disks and special magazine disks.
Of course we are very gratefull to them, and all their members for
their support on this project.  Of course, in return for this, their
users will now have easy access to all these disks.  This is what
working together in a usergroup is all about.  Everybody benefits
from it.  Special thanks to Theo Schwacke and Wolfgang Burger.
The SAG library was put together by the Dutch usergroup SAG, which
disbanded by the end of 1988.  The library was then transferred to the
ABBUC.  Most of the programs in this library are in Dutch.  However
lots of programs were incorporated from other usergroups as well, and
most of these are in English.  Since Dutch is hard to read, unless you
are Dutch, this library was virtually unused for several years.  The
ABBUC also supplied this library to us on a loan basis, so we could
add these disks to the CD as well.  The disks that appear to be
missing from this library are actually duplicates that were
incorporated from the original ABBUC library, so look in the ABBUC
library if you feel a disk you liked is missing.  Again our thanks go
to the ABBUC usergroup for their help.
The SCAT library was sent to us by Joe Chiko.  He used to be librarian
of this Chicago based usergroup, and a copy of the entire library on
real Atari 8 bit diskettes was sent to us by mail.  We thank everyone
at the SCAT usergroup that helped us in this way.
Bodo Juerss of the HAmburger Atari Public Domain Service offered us to
send us any and all disks we were interested in from this collection of
disks.  Although he was stunned by the very large list of disks we sent
him, he sent us a ZIP disk full of disk images.  Of course, we are very
grateful to him for his help, and so should you be, since this means
about 100 megabytes of extra stuff on the CD.
Roger Lacey of the LACE usergroup made several copies of our first
POOLDISK CD.  This is allowed as long as the rules regarding this as
stated on the CD are obeyed.  Anyway, he added the library of their
usergroup to his copies, and even sent us a copy.  So now we included this
library too, and thanks to LACE for still supporting the Classic Atari.
Stuart J. Murray who used to publish the Futura magazine gave us
permission to include his magazines on the CD.  We thank him for allowing
us to add them to the CD.
A user who used to exchange disks with other users in Belgium provided
us with a stack of disks.  Although it took some time to evaluate
these disks, some interesting material is included.  Some of this
stuff is in French.  This is nice, since it expands the reach of this
collection.  On the other hand, this makes it very hard for us to
determine whether or not these disks are copyrighted material or not,
and whether they are to be considered shareware, freeware, public
domain, or whatever.  Disks in the directory BELGIUM should therefore
be used with caution, and you are responsible for the use of it.
Anyway, our thanks go to Oscar for his effort in helping us.

The Bellcom library was completed through the help of Gordon Hooper
who gave us a lot of disks we were missing from this collection.  The
Bellcom collection was transferred to Bob Wooley, and he provided the
remaining disks that were missing.  Our thanks go to the both of
them.
Bob Wooley also allowed us to put the Atari Classics disks on the CD.
Again our thanks go to Bob Wooley for his help.
R Wayne Arendz sent us a large portion of the ACE library over the
last two years.  Just like us, he worked on this in his spare time, so
we really appreciate all the time he put into it.  Thanks to him and
ACE for sending us these disks.
Kaj de Vos provided us with all the disks he had.  He also allowed us
to copy several commercial products that he has the distribution
rights to.
Just as on the first POOLDISK, this one also contains material from
POKEY and ANG.  These disks are included on the CD by permission of
POKEY and ANG.
Erhard Putz sent us several files of general interest.
Gary Manosky sent us a disk with stuff too, some of it to complete some
other libraries, and some that we just put in a separate directory.  So
thanks to one of the users that actually did volunteer to help us.
Sam Cory also sent us a couple of disks.  Thanks to him too.
Ian Chadwick allowed us to put the text of Mapping the Atari on the CD.
This book contains valuable information about almost everything you need
to know to program the Classic Atari systems.  We thank him for allowing
us to add this to the CD.
Beco-Tel bbs (Bernard Kok), and Thunderdome bbs (Robert Verdaasdonk)
also allowed us to incorporate many files from their bbs.
Thanks to the both of them for allowing this.
I am sure we forgot a couple of people.  Thanks to everyone that helped
us with this project.

Bo and Ernest Schreurs.