[vcf-midatlantic] What we can learn from vintage computing

[Dave McGuire]

On 12/14/22 09:44, Neil Cherry via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
> I really can't imagine how hard it would be to pick up something like
> Software defined networks and try to understand it without knowing
> the basics of networking and the OSI stack.
> 
> Same here, learned a lot from Don Lancaster's articles on the Apple
> II (amazingly simple, complex machine). That and my electronics
> and I'm now reverse engineering the Liebert controller for a CDL
> project. Got Motorola Lilbug assembled last night. Need to make a
> few tweeks to the code.
> 
> Learning a simple architecture made it possible to understand what
> the asm code was doing and how it worked with the electronics. And
> while I can pretty much identify what todays chips are and what a
> board can do so much of it is hidden inside the system on a chip
> or worse FPGA.
> 
> Everything is built on the basics.

   This is inescapably true.  It's one reason why I love PDP-8s so much, 
in particular the 8/e.  The processor is simple enough that one person 
(even a kid, as in my case) can understand the operation of the *entire 
thing*, without dedicating a lifetime to it.  I think it took me about a 
week of after-school afternoons.  All the way down to the gate level. 
If someone truly wants to understand how computers actually work, it's 
one great design to study.

              -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA