August 2021 - vcf-midatlantic

Commodore 1702 door
by svcatitc＠aol.com 21 Apr '23

21 Apr '23

Jeffrey Brace jeffrey at vcfed.org Writes:Wed Sep 2 13:48:24 EDT 2020 Sounds like an Outer Limits episode where the world was taken apart and remade every moment and sometimes they made mistakes which is why when you lose your keys you find time in a place that you already searched. I thought this was a Spielberg "Amazing Stories" episode, obviously not. The episode is: "A Matter of Minutes" is the third segment of the fifteenth episode from the first season (1985–86) of the television series The Twilight Zone. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Matter_of_Minutes I remember that scene where the couple is in the "Void of White Space" and the "Supervisor of the Maintenance of Time" says: (paraphrasing) "Ya know how you go back to look for something you know is supposed to be there multiple times and then it finally is where you thoughtit should be? That's us. We forgot something. We are now working on moving Christmas!" I personally call them the "Minute-Ahead" men and you may hear me at a workshop cursing at them!!!! I DOOO BELIEVE! Bill Inderrieden

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Bring your copy of "Back into the Storm" by Bil Herd to VCF East 2021!
by Jeffrey Brace 01 Sep '21

01 Sep '21

Bil Herd has agreed to sign books at VCF East 2021! Anyone that brings their own copy of Bil Herd's new book can get it signed by him at the end of the day on Saturday, October 9. After Bill Mensch's talk he will sign books at approximately 6PM. ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Mac IIfx to borrow for the museum?
by Adam Michlin 01 Sep '21

01 Sep '21

Hi Everyone, Does anyone have a Mac IIfx we could borrow for the museum? Either just for the weekend of VCF East or longer. The World of IBM is borrowing the OS/2 machine (the OS/2 exhibit portion of The World of IBM is going to be *epic*) that is currently on display in the business section of the museum and need something to fill the empty space. Please email me privately. Thanks! -Adam

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VCF East 2021: The World of IBM
by Herb Johnson 01 Sep '21

01 Sep '21

> 1. IBM branded products > 2. x86 clones > 3. Products that run x86 code, but aren't natively x86 I worked in computing, in the era before and during the IBM PC of 1981. Your history is missing a segment that some called "PC near compatibles" after the fact. Calling less-compatibles "Weird" or "Never Heard Of", is just another way of calling them as forgettable, as "losers". Frankly, that's a misread of history. I guess I have to explain this, because most people can't imagine that a "clone" may not be an exact copy after all. I can recite all this, from my old memory. The "clones" were otherwise known as "100% IBM PC compatibles", designs almost literally copied from the IBM PC. They were produced inexpensively from the Far East in the 1990's, so they were called "Tiawan clones". Why that word clones? The Star Wars films in 1977 and later referenced "the Clone Wars", so it was a popular term of use. (shrug) Remembering only the "clones" makes it hard to imagine something that's not a total copy. But before those clones, or before and during the 1981 IBM PC (!) there were two other kinds of 8086/8088 based computers. Computers which weren't intended to be IBM PC compatible; and computers sold as "PC compatible" but had different physical hardware, particularly different graphics. Compupro made an 8085 8088 dual processor S-100 CPU board and offered "8/16" systems. Heath/Zenith offered the Z-100, a 8085 8088 dual CPU motherboard with S-100 bus. They were before or at the time of the IBM PC - so nothing IBM to "copy". They were early 8088 systems because it's easy to replace a CPU board in an entirely bussed system. It's also easy to redesign an 8085 computer to include an 8088. But there were non-bussed 8088 8086 only computers too, before and after the 1981 IBM PC. Other non-8088 computer makers before the IBM PC, were waiting for Digital Research to offer a "CP/M-86". If they could not wait, they provided their own 8088 operating systems. "Seattle Computer Products" ring a bell? After the IBM PC was produced, with MS-DOS, DRI produced a CP/M 86. So there were two OS's for the 8088/8086. So more 8088/86 desktop (and industrial) computers were produced: encouraged by the IBM PC. As IBM and history reminds us, it was the IBM PC that opened big businesses to buying desktop computers. That opened the door for new computer companies, to make some cheaper or better version of an *business* MS-DOS computer than the expensive IBM PC with expensive IBM services. Computer stores became viable and successful in the 1980's. (IMSAI became ComputerLand for instance.) But: people who wrote new MS-DOS programs (or reassembled old CP/M programs) for the new IBM PC, wrote "past" the MS-DOS and programmed for actual PC hardware. Why? Performance. To operate the screen at the fastest possibly speed, and to operate other hardware to gain any advantage. The 4.77MHz 8088 was just. too. slow, even in the era of 4Mhz Z80's. Performance became a driver for hardware and software. Result? An MS-DOS computer that didn't have enough "PC compatible" hardware, could not run all IBM-PC software. Software makers came up with versions for these other MS-DOS computers. But of course, there were too many non-IBM-PC 8088 computers to keep up with. Producers had to pay licenses or development costs for those variant versions. And: some of these ran software slower (a few faster) than on the IBM PC. That started the "compatibility wars", where various personal computer brands were evaluated as "60% 80% 90% PC compatible" or as to what software packages they could support. Models were graded on how they performed various software packages. Some companies offered additional "PC compatible" hardware upgrades or new models. This is simply a matter of history, read the "PC" magazines of the era for details. (This also explains the "products that ran X86 code without 8086 hardware". Some companies added a 8086 or 8088 co-processor or subsystem to their products - Apple for their Macs for instance - to compete with IBM in the business and education markets. That Zenith Z-100 I mentioned, sold tens of thousands to universities and military schools in the USA.) Eventually there was a rush of programmers, designers, and companies to the emerging dominance of "the IBM PC standard", down to totally-compatible hardware with IBM's. Many of the near-PC-compatible computer brands, didn't survive. What emerged were pure-PC plays like Compaq and others which were very compatible, sometimes ahead in performance and often on price. So with that competition, IBM's share of the market they rose to dominate, started to shrink in the late 1980's. (It's ironic, because of course, IBM "took the market" from CP/M and Z80's in the first place.) Then, in the 1990's, the Far East and particularly Tiawan, emerged as producers of cheap computer boards. Companies emerged to copy various IBM PC compatible designs, eventually put them into cheaper larger-scale IC's, and produce them cheaply. No fees to IBM; oddly they paid Microsoft *per board* for MS-DOS and Windows licenses. IBM in the 90's was a company "on the ropes" for some years as a result. Microsoft did just fine, by the way. So I'm explaining all this out, because history matters. There was an evolution of 8088/8086 computers. IBM provided one of them that became dominant, but other 8088/86 products existed for some time. Eventually the PC market became dominated by the explosion of cheap PC pure copies: clones. IBM became another PC "player", barely surviving the transition. But ignoring the PC near-compatibles before "the clones", ignores part of that evolution. Regards, Herb Johnson old person -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net

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3000 square feet of consignment space at VCF East 2021 !!!
by Jeffrey Brace 31 Aug '21

31 Aug '21

This year we have about 3000 square feet of space for consignment! This is a welcome improvement over the past when consignment rooms were cramped. Alex Jacocks is leading the consignment room and is making a plan for rotating volunteers and a more pleasant experience. If anyone is interested in consignment please review the instructions for consignment here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Efyq6zebSnAFl2mswb-8zDuAZcTewsrz/view?usp=… And then fill out the consignment sheet head of time : https://drive.google.com/file/d/15PFvFJsVvz7FmYsQVgMAtZ_MOBIsbPvu/view?usp=… Here is an example sheet for everyone to see: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TPLfDC-vNtFJIoLSGoFFSa2UIT-lEwSB/view?usp=… ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] 3000 square feet of consignment space at VCF East 2021 !!!
by Ethan O'Toole 31 Aug '21

31 Aug '21

[NON-Text Body part not included] The consignment is the swapmeet! Bonus is the sellers don't have to sit with their stuff all weekend. On top of supporting VCF - Ethan

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VCF East 2021: The World of IBM
by Adam Michlin 28 Aug '21

28 Aug '21

Hi Everyone, As you know, Dean, I and a few other people are working on what we hope to be the largest exhibit in the history of VCF: The World of IBM. This is in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the IBM PC. There are three components: 1. IBM branded products 2. x86 clones 3. Products that run x86 code, but aren't natively x86 - either through hardware or software (so, for example, an '030 Mac IIcx running SoftPC - which we don't currently have). We call this x86 on !x86 (read as x86 on not x86) Dean, Dean's son Drew, and I are spearheading the IBM branded section. We have most of the PC/XT/AT era covered, but could use more variety in the PS/2 area. You can offer to loan a computer to us (I'll link you in on our internal spreadsheet so you know what we've already covered) or you can do an entire table yourself. We're especially looking for someone to run an OS/2 exhibit (we have a massive OS/2 collection in the warehouse that we've been itching to put on display since we acquired it). Bill Inderrieden is spearheading the clone exhibit to honor the legacy of the PC clone. This topic alone could fill two rooms, so we're not going for any kind of completion here. Ideas that we'd love people to consider in terms of exhibits: Early Dell Compaq The Boring Grey Boxes (Not So Boring) The Luggables Tandy The Weird Ones The Ones You've Never Heard Of MS-DOS Throughout the Ages Windowing Systems that Aren't Windows Windows (pre 95) Unix on x86 (Xenix et. al) Early Linux Your Idea Here! The weirder the better and we're even going to have an informal contest for the most incompatible PC compatible (Tandy need not apply... that's just not fair!). x86 on !x86, is being handled by Jason Perkins. This is my personal favorite category where anything goes as long as it ultimately runs x86 somehow some way. We'll have an informal competition for the most gratuitously obnoxious execution of x86 code (the slower the better) and maybe even compete to see who can come up with the silliest, craziest, slowest way to run original x86 Doom. So how can you help? We still have limited space for a full exhibit - contact me if you want a full table and are willing to staff it throughout the event. You can also help by loaning computers, for example we'd love to borrow an Atari PC1 to add to our "Major companies you may not have known made x86 PCs" - DEC and Commodore already being represented - exhibit. You can offer to staff the exhibit, either full time (required only if you have a table) or part time to relieve the full time staff (which we can pre schedule so you have plenty of time to explore the event otherwise - volunteer for only a few hours or more!). If you'd like to help in any way, just send me a private email and we will get you to the right person. -Adam

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] VCF East 2021: The World of IBM
by Jeffrey Brace 28 Aug '21

28 Aug '21

On Fri, Aug 27, 2021 at 11:22 AM Brian L. Stuart via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > On Friday, August 27, 2021, 10:36:32 AM EDT, Ethan O'Toole via > vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > That could also include the Commodore Amiga running PC-Task. I did a > lot of > > > my WordPerfect for DOS activity on that emulation platform. > > > > There was also the crazy Amiga Bridgeboards! > > > > I have some Amigas kicking around but don't own a bridgeboard. > > > > And the Sun PCI PC thing. > > And the DOS-73 board for the UNIX PC. > We have this installed on the museum PC! > > BLS >

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Classes at VCF East 2021 on Friday, October 8
by Jeffrey Brace 27 Aug '21

27 Aug '21

We currently have 11 classes scheduled for VCF East on Friday, October 8. There is room for one more. We have a great lineup for classes so far! Atari 2600 Graphics Programming Pax Consola - 8 Bit development system #Fujinet Personal Computer Graphics of the 70's and 80's Fuzix Intro How to Create a simple video controller with a FPGA Pong Restoration CRT Repair PROMAL for the C64 Calculating with Slide Rules, Volvelles, Abaci and Mechanical Computers Practical Lisa. The schedule will be finalized soon, but here is a draft of of it: https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/vcf-east-sche… ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] 30 Years of Linux
by Dave McGuire 27 Aug '21

27 Aug '21

On 8/26/21 1:48 PM, madodel via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >> Linux is *everywhere*. I'm willing to bet that everyone on this >> list, literally every person, has half a dozen instances of Linux >> in their houses right now that they don't even know about. > > My Tesla runs Linux, but that's in my garage. ;-) Excellent. :-) -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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