18 Aug
2006
18 Aug
'06
6:07 a.m.
Rumor has it that Steven N. Hirsch may have mentioned these words:
On Thu, 17 Aug 2006, Scott Quinn wrote:
> You'll note this is pretty much limited to UNIX workstations, because of
> my space limitations and my assumption that UNIX will make for a easier
> transition.
One must ask oneself - transition *from what*? If one is "transitioning"
from OS/400, I doubt there's any micro available
that will be easier than
any other... ;-)
I have to reluctantly agree that Unix may not be the
best entry into
classic collecting. My choice would be the Apple 2 series and/or
Commodore VIC-20 and 64. These are cheap and plentiful with lots of
information and software available on the net.
Depends. If you are coming from a Unix/Linux world, *or* started out with
the GWBASIC crowd, a Tandy (CoCo|Model3/4|etc.) might be easier to get
accustomed to as there will be less of a learning curve with the Basic (or
in the *nix case, OS-9 on a CoCo). Parts are still cheap, plentiful, and
some are even swappable with the IBM scene; not to mention utilities to
write to cross-platform floppies & whatnot; which is a bit tougher in the
GCR world.
However, I agree that if it is your first foray into the world of classics,
a small cheap 8-bitter is definitely the way to go.
[[ Oh and Will: When the other poster mentioned IBM, he might've been
referencing AS/400 or System/36-type machines. I certainly wouldn't
recommend anything of that vintage from IBM for a beginner! ;-) However,
PowerPC vs. Sparc vs. Alpha vs. Mips vs. Geode vs. every other durned CPU
*nix has been ported to really isn't an issue. ;-) ]]
Laterz,
Roger "Merch" Merchberger
--
Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- SysAdmin, Iceberg Computers
zmerch at 30below.com
What do you do when Life gives you lemons,
and you don't *like* lemonade?????????????