Being a dumb person, I am gradually replacing all of my software (outside Windows :-)) by older software because I like the speed, efficiency and weirdness of code produced for machines which have been mostly extinct for decades now.

As I feel surprisingly comfortable with most of the replacements (the latest one being TECO, replacing ed (please don't judge me)), I wonder if it would be worth a dare to limit yourself to software available before 1985* for a week. I am fine with allowing web browsers though... ;-)

Anyone in?

* The year is not set in stone just yet. But there was some fine stuff in the mid-80s.

I'm in, sounds like fun.

This would be super interesting. The only hick is that there should be an easy way to find those softwares and install them. It'll probably take me a whole week to search for those softwares. Maybe we should make a list of the basic stuffs.

That list depends on the agreeable year. :)

We already covered the subject of old operating systems and text editors extensively on nixers. I think if we take web browsers into consideration, one could cheat by just using "webapps" for anything. (I would not recommend that.) Otherwise, hmm.

Which kind of applications do you usually need for your "week in the TTY"?

(14-10-2018, 10:26 AM)jkl Wrote: Which kind of applications do you usually need for your "week in the TTY"?

For me it usually it comes down to email, chat, text editor, web browser, todo list, compilers and other toolkits, maybe even games. It depends what you do on an everyday basis, if you do a lot of image editing you'll need an image editor. I can't really say.

Hmm, chat alone could be hard with the IRC having been around since 1988.

For June, we'll push two activities: The week in the TTY and a workflow compilation.
However, I was thinking it could be nice to try something like what is described in this thread as an alternative to the week in the TTY, or maybe leave the choice to the person to either do this or that.

What do you think?

Personally, the most insightful part of these challenges is the afterthoughts and sharing about what we've learned when doing it.

I sometimes don't startx, if I just have to login and make some files edits to push to git. I only really need the X server running so I can use a browser. I'm in for week in the TTY.

But seeing a I wasn't on nixers in 2018, what the heck it TECO? (it's ok I googled it) looks pretty annoying to use so I'm gonna give it a go haha.

Also, when's the workflow compilation thing, did I miss a thread?

(31-05-2021, 03:46 AM)Ramiferous Wrote: what the heck it TECO? (it's ok I googled it) looks pretty annoying to use so I'm gonna give it a go haha.

It is not quite annoying once you got used to how it works; or, at least, not more annoying than WordStar... :-))

Relatively "new" version with full-screen support:
https://github.com/blakemcbride/TECOC

1985 would be too limiting.
Maybe before 1995 or 1990? (I want to try some 90's window managers).

(31-05-2021, 09:55 AM)phillbush Wrote: 1985 would be too limiting.
Maybe before 1995 or 1990? (I want to try some 90's window managers).

I'm quite happy in TWM (1987) but it you wanna make it before 1995 then I can use CTWM :)

(31-05-2021, 09:55 AM)seninha Wrote: 1985 would be too limiting.

CP/M might be an interesting choice for circa 1985.

Bonus points for anyone who has an old Morrow MD1, MD2, or MD3 machine, but maybe there's a Z80 emulator we can use on our Unix boxes.

My first son was born in 1985 so I have a fairly clear recollection of the time. There are photos of me with a sleeping newborn on one arm and a Microsoft C Compiler manual in my free hand. The IBM PC had already been introduced and MS-DOS was the thing. So maybe spending some time with old DOS programs is a way to scratch the retro itch? If you're violently anti-M$, there's always FreeDOS.

(I have fond memories of PC-Outline. R:Base with its railroad-diagram prompts for constructing SQL queries. And of course, since this is nixers, the MKS Toolkit -- although I'm not sure whether that was available as early as 1985. )

I miss the days when most computer users were still skeptical about those new-fangled graphical user interfaces.

I would like to perform a personal PoC doing one workday from a MSX machine. I heard that PiterPunk ( #slackware ) did something like this before ...

In case any of you are very bored: a few hours ago I came across MIT TECO EMACS version 170. Over 7 megabytes in size!

(20-08-2022, 01:54 PM)ckester Wrote:

(31-05-2021, 09:55 AM)seninha Wrote: 1985 would be too limiting.

CP/M might be an interesting choice for circa 1985.

Bonus points for anyone who has an old Morrow MD1, MD2, or MD3 machine, but maybe there's a Z80 emulator we can use on our Unix boxes.

fMSX contains a Z80 emulator. I haven't tried to compile it separately but it seems fairly straightforward. You can find it here: http://fms.komkon.org/fMSX/#Downloads