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I might have made a mistake here.

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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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    I am delighted to announce the release of my latest project:Fully documented source code for The Sentinel, Geoff Crammond’s 1986 masterpiece.Here’s the repository; deep dives coming soon.See thread for details.1/9https://github.com/markmoxon/the-sentinel-source-code-bbc-micro#retrocomputing #retrogaming #bbcmicro #c64 #8bit
  • Zork I, II and III now open source!

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    Zork I, II and III now open source! Very cool. #retrocomputinghttps://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/11/microsoft-makes-zork-i-ii-and-iii-open-source-under-mit-license/
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    @ajsadauskas @luca Here's a good article on Hartley Computer: https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2017/acs-heritage-project--chapter-34.html"David Hartley (not to be confused with the British computer scientist of the same name) started his working life in 1966 as a civil engineer with Brisbane City Council. His work later took him to Namibia in southern Africa, where he was introduced to computing while conducting mathematical modelling of rainfall in the vast Okavango river basin, using FORTRAN on an ICT 1500."When he returned to Australia he decided that computing was more interesting than civil engineering. He started Hartley Computer in Brisbane in 1974 to develop software for the accounting profession, on the rationale that accounting could be easily computerised but that many in the profession did not realise that...."The new software was very successful – it was the only software in Australia designed specifically for small accounting practices. Hartley also designed SHEILA (System by Hartley for Entirely Integrated Ledger Accounting) for larger organisations. The venture included building hardware (the Hartley 3900) and an operating system. Both the hardware and the software were very innovative....“The operating system was called RT86, a ‘true pre-emptive multi-user multi-tasking operating system for the 8086 chip. It was launched in 1980, 15 years before Windows PCs had that capability.“Hartley Computer was one of the first mini/PC computer vertical market successes in the world, with ultimately 250 staff and 3,000 sites in seven countries. In the process I became known as ‘the father of computer client accounting’, and we won several awards. The success was killed by hubris and a messy divorce. Big lessons, only partly learned at the time.”