24 Jul
1998
24 Jul
'98
8:50 a.m.
What do you use now?
Like the Kaypro 4/84 (ca 1984) that I use to run my
billings on.
In general, I hope everyone that prides themselves of running
Electric Pencil on their Altairs is doing it for practical purposes,
and not because they just want to show off that they won't use
a PC.
I have a PDP-11/73 for development and continuation support use. Also
very handy for getting from Digital Equipment Corp designed and
propritary media to other more common use media.
A server for what? You must have an Interlnk client if you are using
Intersrvr, unless you hacked the protocol...
I do use an old 386sx/25 as a headless server using MSdos6.22 intersvr
and interlnk software and a parallel port data cable(LapLink).
I would bet that _most_ hackers do it for commercial/industrial
reasons. FOr everyone who built their own z80, hundreds came off the
assembly line.
All people that modify "hack" machines are not all hobbiests. As a
professional I need for various reasons to read disks created years
ago sometimes really old like the 8" media from the late 70s early 80s.
I have old machines to do this but a handy one is an XT clone using a
modified floppy controller with and old 8" drive. You cannot buy that
capability now but, companies have archives that are sometimes very old
that may need to be accessed.
Even your common P-II box is hard pressed to read older 5.25" format
floppies! At a minimum you would have to find an apporiate drive and
then by trial and error figure the jumpers out as new machines a
scantily
documented at best.
That's an immense
exaggeration. P-II boxes a) Have no jumpers, as a
rule b) can support a 5.25" fdd if you can plug one in.
What other difference can there be?
In computers old technology and new are often only
different in speed
or
size. There are many PDP-8s (1970s tech), PDP-11s
(late 70s into the
80s tech) and Data General Novas still in service as control systems
where they do the same thing everyday as the have for the last 20+
years.
I agree with that. It's impressive how many people think Windows NT
is a safer option than UNIXoids though NT is only 1/3 as old...
Mature stable systems we know how to use.
Allison
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