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Ken Thompson Recalls Unix’s Rowdy, Lock-Picking Origins

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    @eniko *Adds to wallpaper folder on laptop*
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    I should post about the latest #retrocomputing project I started.Problem: I'd like an open-source, self-hosting C compiler on 8086, that supports the large memory model, overlays, and enough C89 to build Lua.This seems to not exist! K&R is much more common in this size category. Around the time of C89, many compilers bloated to the point of requiring a 386 or better host, though they could still target 8086. The 8086 holdouts were, in general, commercial products that never got a source release.One notable exception was DeSmet C http://www.desmet-c.com. It seems to have started life as a commercial PC fork of Bell Labs PCC, a small and sturdy K&R compiler. DeSmet 3.1 added "draft ANSI C" support, but this is incomplete, and riddled with code-gen bugs. This version later found itself on Github as OpenDC https://github.com/the-grue/OpenDC.Aside from all the bugs, this is a pretty cool package: its dis/assembler, debugger, text editor, and some other utilities were also open sourced, and it runs on an 8088 with 256K RAM and two 360K floppies.The OpenDC person did a good job packaging things up into an easily buildable form, and fixing syntax errors that probably came from running the sources through a different compiler version than expected, so... yes, it does indeed build and self-host... and I've done this on my Book 8088.So now I will try to fix the bugs and add the missing C89 features. There are many, many of both... gulp.
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    Matthew Garrett on what it actually means for a computer to be IBM PC compatible.https://codon.org.uk/~mjg59/blog/p/what-is-a-pc-compatible#retrocomputing #ibmpc #msdos
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    Nearly 20 years old, LEGO NXT is now running #MicroPython! 😀LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 (2013) is still the first priority, but we're pulling along NXT (2006) as we go. Much of it is is already working.Thanks @schodet @danderson and many others. #retrocomputing #ewaste