Am i the only
one that feels that using modern FPGA's to recreate old
CPU's is getting
dangerously close to just running an emulation on a
modern PC ?
It is, but so what?
This next statement might suprise you. I see nothing wrong with emulators
running on modern PCs -- provided you acknowledge that's not the real
vintage hardware. If you're more interested in software, then running an
emulaotr seems to be a perfectly valid way of running said software.
Similarly, if you like FPGAs [1] then making clones of old CPUs using
them seems to be something worth doing.
But I would not want to replace the CPU boards in the PDP8/e on my desk
with a board containing an FPGA + level shifters. Just as I'd not want to
put a PC motherboard running an emulator inside that case.
However, because I see something as 'not wrong' doesn't mean I want to do
it. I still want to do battle with boards of vintage chips.
[1] Haveing had to use FPGAs in the past, I'd not wish those darn things
onto anybody. Suffice it to say _I_ am a lot more productive armed with a
board of chips and a wire-wrap tool.
-tony
