Re: OT: Spamfighting (was: All YOUR Romantic Needs - Relationship101.com 9857)

> >isn't a Posix system at all, just another unix-like operating system. No multitasking
> >support either.  (For that, get JOS :)
> 
> JOS? Don't know that one. But what i _do_ know is that multitasking is
> impossible on a C64/128, it could do taskswitching though.

Not at all.

A Stock C64 can multitask with LUnix (note the exact spelling).  This one
is pre-emptive, but I don't know if it's threaded or not, been a while
since I last played with it.  Very Unix-like.

For Super-CPU accellerated machines, JOS does a great job.  This one is
multi-threaded pre-emptive multitasking.  Also very Unix-like.

The other night, for example, I as running two GUI interfaces (by
accident, I only meant to load one), four shells were open with bitmap
soft-80 display drivers, a starfield/warp demo (similar to the windows
screensaver), reading a text file as needed, and an IRC client was open.

The GUI looks similar to Windows variants, however it's not complete
(author has been spending his resources on other parts of the OS).  It
features a backdrop image (root window, wallpaper, whatever you like to
call it), which is a red Ferrari, joystick control for the pointer (with a
unique accelleration routine..starts out slow, and speeds up, then slows
back down to a stop when you let go...ingenious!), mouse support is
coming.

Others who have used it report that it can access the Internet (telnet
only for now) via the usual PPP over TCP/IP, like any modern PC.

What C64/128 can't do (at least, without a hardware addon of some kind) is
memory protection, which people seem to think is necessary for
Multitasking to occur.  All it does is protect programs from each other
(fat lot of good it does since the OS usually shuts them down anyway)

Now then.....you were saying? :)

> However, back when my 128 still worked, i have had a tool that used
> the processor in whatever floppydrive you had as a copro. All drives
> you have could be used to that purpose. (but it was advisable to leave
> 1 drive untouched or you wouldn't have drive access). Something like a
> rudimentary Breowulf cluster, only slower :-)

Most disk-turbo routines use this capability also, running code inside the
drive to take some of the load off the C64 itself.  Unfortunately it
doesn't apply too well to much outside of, say, compressing data or
something.

That is, something that involves sending out less data than it takes in,
because of how slow the serial bus is.

Now if you have a CMD Hard Drive, which offers Parallel, you have a much
more powerful "coprocessor" (aside from what the Super CPU does) that just
happens to have 64K of RAM, and up to 4 gigs of SCSI-Interfaced mass
storage atached to it (up to 96 gigs with custom software), and the
possibility to add CD-ROM, ZIP, and other SCSI devices.

> Hold on, it was not really a tool but a demo, but it came with VisAss
> sources so that the code could be incorporated in your own code.
> Alternatively, the program could be called from floppy IIRC.

One of my favorite disk drive demos was one that vibrated the drive's head
(by rapidly sending signals to the stepper motor) to play simple one-voice
music :-)

> Ah... The C64/128 could have come furter that it already went....

Believe me, it HAS. See also:

Hardware: Creative Micro Designs (Super CPU, RamLink, etc)
http://www.cmdweb.com/cbm/index.htm

Music: Compute's Gazette SID Collection
http://members.xoom.com/cbm_files/music.html

Music: High Voltage SID Collection
http://home.freeuk.net/wazzaw/HVSC/

Software: Applications, Technical Documents
ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/cbm

Software: Games and Demos
ftp://ftp.scs-trc.net/pub/c64

Software: JOS (Unix/X -like multitasking OS, very good)
http://www.jolz64.cjb.net/

Software: CLiPS (Windows-like multitasking OS, also very good)
http://www.clips64.de

Software: Wheels (single-tasking Mac-like OS, official GEOS upgrade)
          The Wave (Semi-graphical Web Browser)
          GeoFAX (Fax-modem software for GEOS/Wheels)
http://www.ia4u.com/~maurice

Books:  The Internet for Commodore Users
http://cbm.videocam.net.au/tifcu/index.html

Documentation:  Project 64
http://project64.c64.org

Need I say more? :)

obascii:  ...my signature :)

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