8088

[Hoser Rob]

People ran Unix on 8088 boxes years ago.

[gomerpile]

But mine has a math co processor which should help for the install, the problem is I need a 5.25 floppy install disk

[Hoser Rob]

But mine has a math co processor which should help for the install ...

How would that help?

[Tuor]

Damn... I thought i was a retro guy... Untill i read this .

EDIT:
Perhaps you can try Minix, don't have a clue if it will work.

[MurphCID]

I remember replacing my 8088 with a NEC V20 chip. IIRC I first ran Mandrake on a Cyrix P166 system....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pz6EV5bNOY Red Hat 5.2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTJCOofqK5k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DBPuZHWEXc Slackware!

[gomerpile]

I remember replacing my 8088 with a NEC V20 chip. IIRC I first ran Mandrake on a 386SX/25....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pz6EV5bNOY Red Hat 5.2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTJCOofqK5k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DBPuZHWEXc Slackware!

clicking a link in here is like giving a baby a loaded gun

[MurphCID]

I know, some of those systems look so fun. This was my first Distro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvFelGwZBcc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXLGgNTmCzE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BH79-W19xM

I am not sure if you can install any of these distros on the 8088, but it might be fun to try?

[Petermint]

Just compile up the kernel yourself. You could strip Cinnamon down to 30 lines of code and compile it up yourself. Might not be the same.

So why are we not supporting the 4004?

[Hoser Rob]

Just compile up the kernel yourself. You could strip Cinnamon down to 30 lines of code and compile it up yourself. Might not be the same.

So why are we not supporting the 4004?

Maybe you could run Cinnamon on this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_8800 as long as we're into 70s hardware.

[Petermint]

The OS distribution has to fit the 175 KB 8" floppy.

[Hoser Rob]

The OS distribution has to fit the 175 KB 8" floppy.

Well, if you can prune Cinnamon down to 30 lines of code that shouldn't be a problem.

[Petermint]

Tiny Core has bloated from 17 MB to 23 MB.
The usable version is 248 MB which means upgrading to double sided floppy disks.
But no Cinnamon.

[Hoser Rob]

Tiny Core has bloated from 17 MB to 23 MB.
The usable version is 248 MB which means upgrading to double sided floppy disks.
But no Cinnamon.

Ouch!

[rick gen]

This chip is associated with MS DOS with an army of keyboard warriors, I mean pointing devices were even a nuisance to most people at that time. People got very usable programs like Lotus123, Dbase, Wordstar, etc. It's certainly not for internet browsing.

But you can bet many Linux devs are happy to resurrect very old machines. It's the sole reason why they're deep into Linux. Make people with very old machines happy.

[Hoser Rob]

... you can bet many Linux devs are happy to resurrect very old machines. It's the sole reason why they're deep into Linux. Make people with very old machines happy.

I don't think I'd agree. Read this for a start: https://cheapskatesguide.org/articles/l ... uters.html

Linux devs, like all software devs, often use older hardware than you may think but not THAT old. They have no nostalgia for vintage hardware.

Besides, if what you say is true, Linux bugs for old hardware would get fixed regularly. In fact they rarely get fixed. If ever.

[Moem]

you can bet many Linux devs are happy to resurrect very old machines. It's the sole reason why they're deep into Linux.

That's quite a claim, care to back it up? I mean, a reason... okay, plausible. The sole reason... whoa.

[Petermint]

Linux devs are happy to resurrect very old machines

Yes, so long as it has USB 3 (2008).

When I want to copy some photos to another computer, I am not going to wait for a teletype to punch out the paper tape then mess around feeding the tape into the other teletype. Some technologies are just too old.

There are some museums trying to keep old computers active for demonstrations and they are mostly trying to keep them running with their original OS. Then there are the emulators who keep the lights blinking by hiding a Raspberry Pi in the back.

Of the the professional developers I meet who supporting Linux, very few know enough about electronics to repair old hardware when replacement parts run out. They can plug in a replacement motherboard but not fix a broken one. They cannot support hardware old enough to be fragile. Their official time for Linux support might be a few days each month allocated by their employer but only for supporting the software the company uses.

Mostly they are stuck with supporting the latest stuff the CEO buys because it is trendy or the rubbish a purchasing officer bought without asking anyone what actually works. After that, it is fixing the interfaces to fancy new software nobody tested before signing the $580 million contract.

* The names are changed to protect the guilty.

[Hoser Rob]

Linux devs are happy to resurrect very old machines

Yes, so long as it has USB 3 (2008). ,,,

The logic there is "I want it so that's the way it is".

[all41]

As a ham radio op I find restoring and using (certain) ancient hardware
to be an enjoyable excursion.
I still have an original IBM 8086 system in the attic somewhere.
I think it was upgraded to 640k ram, has a green monochrome monitor.
Even that lowly critter was a boon to business when introduced. Word especially, but Lotus, et al
People accomplished a lot with that limited hardware and they were glad--even boasting--to have such
computer power at their fingertips.

But would I consider digging that up and try installing a modern os just for laughs? no way.
btdt on much later systems with failure and disappointing results

[The Muffin Man]

You can run FreeDOS and Windows 3.0/3.1.
Remember Windows required DOS in those days.