Re: history is hard (was: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC)

2020-05-25 Thread Guy Sotomayor via cctalk
On Mon, 2020-05-25 at 14:13 -0700, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: > > I hadn't thought about IBMCACHE.SYS in *years*. I wrote it in > > its entirety (there's even a patent that covers some of its > operation). > > I was in an AdTech (Advanced Technology) group at the time and > > was looking at

Re: history is hard

2020-05-25 Thread Evan Koblentz via cctalk
Some things are easy to check, like the fact that the Z80 came out in 1976 when Woz was already finishing the Apple II so he couldn't have considered using it for the Apple I. I haven't personally looked into whether he considered using the Z80, but your statement there is oversimplified.

Re: Standard Cocktail Napkin Size [WAS: RE: history is hard

2020-05-25 Thread Rod Smallwood via cctalk
On 25/05/2020 20:56, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: The final media size was determined by Shugart Engineering led by Al Chou from the size of the 8-track tape drive that the 5�-inch FDD was to replace in Wang and other systems.  As near as I can tell it was not the same size as a �standard�

Re: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

2020-05-25 Thread Adrian Graham via cctalk
> On 25 May 2020, at 20:58, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote: > > On 5/25/20 11:51 AM, Adrian Graham via cctalk wrote: >> For proper niche see the RCA-1802 powered COMX-35. > > There is some talk of building a replica > > https://twitter.com/TubeTimeUS/status/1264585081659641857 > > Oh! Yes,

Re: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

2020-05-25 Thread Adrian Graham via cctalk
> On 25 May 2020, at 15:17, Liam Proven via cctalk > wrote: > > Since we don't have anything called Tic-tac-toe in the UK -- the game > is called "Noughts and Crosses" -- it took me a little while to work > out what it was and what it was doing, but once I did, I could play > against it. On

Re: history is hard (was: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC)

2020-05-25 Thread Fred Cisin via cctalk
I hadn't thought about IBMCACHE.SYS in *years*.?? I wrote it in its entirety (there's even a patent that covers some of its operation). I was in an AdTech (Advanced Technology) group at the time and was looking at how to make disk operations faster in DOS at the time when I came up with the

Thinking of selling my PDP's

2020-05-25 Thread Charles via cctalk
I am getting closer to retirement (although not close enough) and I'm considering selling off my PDP stuff, especially if I downsize and move. Everything's working, but I just no longer DO anything with either system... the adventure was acquiring all the pieces, fixing them and learning the

Re: history is hard (was: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC)

2020-05-25 Thread Guy Sotomayor via cctalk
On Mon, 2020-05-25 at 13:21 -0700, Ali wrote: > > >I hadn't thought about IBMCACHE.SYS in *years*. I wrote it in its > >entirety (there's even a patent that covers some of its operation). > I > >was in an AdTech (Advanced Technology) group at the time and was > >looking at how to make disk

Re: history is hard (was: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC)

2020-05-25 Thread Ali via cctalk
>I hadn't thought about IBMCACHE.SYS in *years*.  I wrote it in its>entirety >(there's even a patent that covers some of its operation). I>was in an AdTech >(Advanced Technology) group at the time and was>looking at how to make disk >operations faster in >DOS at the time when I>came up with

Re: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

2020-05-25 Thread Al Kossow via cctalk
On 5/25/20 11:51 AM, Adrian Graham via cctalk wrote: For proper niche see the RCA-1802 powered COMX-35. There is some talk of building a replica https://twitter.com/TubeTimeUS/status/1264585081659641857

Re: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

2020-05-25 Thread Jim Brain via cctalk
On 5/25/2020 1:53 PM, Jim Brain via cctalk wrote:  IEC bus cycle is too short (20uS) half cycle http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/faq/trivia/cbm-trivia-08.txt Question $07B gives more detail. Jim

Re: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

2020-05-25 Thread Jim Brain via cctalk
On 5/25/2020 11:44 AM, Liam Proven via cctalk wrote: On Sun, 24 May 2020 at 05:14, Jim Brain via cctalk wrote: The serial interface would have been fast enough, if the MOS folks had talked to the design team about the bug and squashed it early. But, they did not, and on the VIC-20, which did

Re: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

2020-05-25 Thread Adrian Graham via cctalk
> On 25 May 2020, at 17:44, Liam Proven via cctalk > wrote: > > And yet, despite that, there was a profusion of machines. Z80 and 6502 > and 6809. MS BASIC and MSX. The big American makes: Atari and Tandy > and Apple. The big European makes: Sinclair, Oric, Amstrad. The niche > ones: Sord,

Re: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

2020-05-25 Thread Fred Cisin via cctalk
I apologise for offending you. Sloppiness and insnesitivity on my part, not a deliberate attempt. PETSCII/PETASCII character graphics were almost as good as TRS80 character graphics!:-)

Re: history is hard (was: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC)

2020-05-25 Thread Guy Sotomayor via cctalk
On Mon, 2020-05-25 at 20:28 +0200, Liam Proven via cctalk wrote: > On Mon, 25 May 2020 at 20:22, Guy Sotomayor > wrote: > > > > I hadn't thought about IBMCACHE.SYS in *years*. I wrote it in its > > entirety (there's even a patent that covers some of its operation). > > I > > was in an AdTech

3 stylewriter printers available for pickup only, Fairfield, IA

2020-05-25 Thread Bill Degnan via cctalk
Came in through vintagecomputer.net that I am passing along. Anyone out there near Fairfield, IA and looking for three Apple Stylewriter printers let me know and I will put you in contact with the woman who has them. I was told that there was a few other things, but no computers. They're pick up

Re: cctalk Digest, Vol 68, Issue 25

2020-05-25 Thread Adam Thornton via cctalk
> On May 25, 2020, at 10:00 AM, cctalk-requ...@classiccmp.org wrote: > > > The topic for my talk next week. Unix had virtualization in 74. The second > Unix port ran under OS/360's VM in 78. _Ahem_. It ran under VM/370. Most (all?) models of the IBM 370 had virtual memory, as had the (not

Re: history is hard (was: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC)

2020-05-25 Thread Liam Proven via cctalk
On Mon, 25 May 2020 at 20:22, Guy Sotomayor wrote: > > I hadn't thought about IBMCACHE.SYS in *years*. I wrote it in its > entirety (there's even a patent that covers some of its operation). I > was in an AdTech (Advanced Technology) group at the time and was > looking at how to make disk

Re: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

2020-05-25 Thread Peter Corlett via cctalk
On Mon, May 25, 2020 at 04:17:25PM +0200, Liam Proven via cctalk wrote: [...] > So, yes, PETSCII lets you draw some stuff, but I was only about 12. It really > wasn't enough to grab me for long, not for the price of a car. If you prefer the price of your wheels to be around £205, there's this

DECstation 220 Diagnostic "Test for Shutdown return"

2020-05-25 Thread Rob Jarratt via cctalk
According to a manual a friend has, the DECstation 220 outputs a diagnostic code on the parallel port. If I have interpreted it correctly the code being output by my machine is "Test for shutdown return". Does anyone know what that might mean? Regards Rob

Standard Cocktail Napkin Size [WAS: RE: history is hard (was: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC)}

2020-05-25 Thread Tom Gardner via cctalk
On Sunday, May 24, 2020 11:23 AM Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote in part: >> On Sun, 24 May 2020, Tom Gardner via cctalk wrote: >>The final media size was determined by Shugart Engineering led by Al >> Chou from the size of the 8-track tape drive that the 5¼-inch FDD was >> to replace in Wang and

Re: history is hard (was: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC)

2020-05-25 Thread Guy Sotomayor via cctalk
On Mon, 2020-05-25 at 20:00 +0200, Liam Proven via cctalk wrote: > On Mon, 25 May 2020 at 05:30, Fred Cisin via cctalk > wrote: > > > > > IBMs came with an installable driver called, I think, IBMCACHE.SYS. > This used extended RAM (above 1MB) as a hard disk cache, without XMS > or HIMEM.SYS or

Re: history is hard

2020-05-25 Thread Warner Losh via cctalk
On Mon, May 25, 2020, 8:40 AM Jon Elson wrote: > On 05/24/2020 04:18 PM, Warner Losh via cctalk wrote: > > IBM's standard VM/360. Sorry for the confusion. That will > > teach me to reply on my phone... Warner > As far as I know, there was no VM/360. There WAS VM/370, > which was out in the

Re: history is hard (was: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC)

2020-05-25 Thread Liam Proven via cctalk
On Mon, 25 May 2020 at 05:30, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: > > I played briefly with Xenix on an XT (or MAYBE an AT) on a 15MB? drive > partition. MS-DOS was a better match for that hardware. Never tried Xenix on an XT, but it was the 2nd OS on my PC-AT in my first ever job. That machine was

Re: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

2020-05-25 Thread Liam Proven via cctalk
On Sun, 24 May 2020 at 05:14, Jim Brain via cctalk wrote: > The serial interface would have been fast enough, if the MOS folks had > talked to the design team about the bug and squashed it early. But, they > did not, and on the VIC-20, which did not expect to move many drives, no > one cared.

Re: GWBASIC Source Code

2020-05-25 Thread Murray McCullough via cctalk
GWBASIC- (Gee-Whiz BASIC) is a Microsoft product, designed much along the line of IBM’s BASICA, that did not need a ROM BASIC and was interpreted. Not necessarily basic in design or purpose as defined by Oxford English Dictionary & Wikipedia and Computer Desktop Encyclopedia, some(purists) say

Re: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

2020-05-25 Thread Richard Cini via cctalk
Thanks. I believe the official name is CW for Character Windows, probably to avoid that confusion. Get Outlook for iOS On Mon, May 25, 2020 at 10:24 AM -0400, "Liam Proven via cctalk" wrote: On Sun, 24 May 2020 at 03:42,

Re: history is hard

2020-05-25 Thread Jon Elson via cctalk
On 05/24/2020 04:18 PM, Warner Losh via cctalk wrote: IBM's standard VM/360. Sorry for the confusion. That will teach me to reply on my phone... Warner As far as I know, there was no VM/360. There WAS VM/370, which was out in the early 1970's, but on 370 mainframes, not 360s. Jon

Re: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

2020-05-25 Thread Liam Proven via cctalk
On Sun, 24 May 2020 at 03:42, Richard Cini wrote: > > Thanks Liam. Oberon is pretty interesting. I may download that just to see it > in action. I’ve used a ton of 3Com cards so the setup program is pretty > familiar. I haven’t used DESQview, well, since I had it installed on my > Compaq

Re: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

2020-05-25 Thread Liam Proven via cctalk
On Sat, 23 May 2020 at 22:24, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: > > On Sat, 23 May 2020, Liam Proven via cctalk wrote: > > It is pretty much the *same* BASIC in the PET, VIC-20 and C64. It got > > trivial adjustments for the hardware, but bear in mind: the PET had no > > graphics, > > PETSCII/PETASCII

RE: history is hard

2020-05-25 Thread Dave Wade via cctalk
> -Original Message- > From: cctalk On Behalf Of Peter Coghlan > via cctalk > Sent: 25 May 2020 08:10 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > > Subject: Re: history is hard > > On Sun, 24 May 2020 at 19:24:31 -0400, Bill Gunshannon wrote: > >On 5/24/20 5:30 PM, Peter

RE: history is hard

2020-05-25 Thread Dave Wade via cctalk
> -Original Message- > From: cctalk On Behalf Of Bill Gunshannon > via cctalk > Sent: 25 May 2020 00:25 > To: cctalk@classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: history is hard > > On 5/24/20 5:30 PM, Peter Coghlan via cctalk wrote: > > > > > > CP/67 or something like that maybe? I don't think there

Re: history is hard

2020-05-25 Thread Peter Coghlan via cctalk
On Sun, 24 May 2020 at 19:24:31 -0400, Bill Gunshannon wrote: On 5/24/20 5:30 PM, Peter Coghlan via cctalk wrote: CP/67 or something like that maybe? I don't think there was a VM/360 either. There was VM/370 in 1980. I worked under it from May to August. Hosted on a 4331 at Ft. Ben