Re: Projects that take Commodore computers to 2021

From: Marc Rintsch <marc_at_rintsch.de>
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2021 03:58:53 +0100
Message-ID: <9c0e7227-0bad-4e4c-aaf8-050c1abbd2a9_at_rintsch.de>
On 12.12.21 13:11, Claudio Sánchez wrote:
> Hi all. There are many projects that use modern technology to interface 
> Commodore computers.
> 
> And many if not most of them fall in two categories:
> - Those that try to recreate chips as substitution
> - Those that emulate classic storage devices
> 
> But what about making the Commodore computers work as if they were 
> computers of 2021?

It's more work and would not just need hardware but also the software to 
use it.  And preferably not just one application but all the stuff that 
makes using the computer interesting.  Because such a project wouldn't 
work well with all the existing software.

> The storage devices emulators try to replicate how a 1541 drive works, 
> so the user will have a small flash memory drive filled with disk image 
> files of 1541 disks. And that mean PRG, SEQ, REL files. But what about a 
> FAT file system implementation and software like a text editor that 
> would write TXT files?

Text files in what encoding?  PETSCII?  Or limited to ASCII?

> Or a 'paint' program that would write BMP files?

Writing BMP isn't that much of a problem given the program doesn't use 
compression or the hardware allows seeking or you prepare the complete 
file in memory.  But then the user might think it should also be 
possible to read BMP files.  Then the the program has to deal with the 
restrictions of the commodore hardware.  Maximum sizes, fixed color 
palettes, restrictions like how many colors can be in a ”tile”, severely 
non-square pixels, limited RAM, and so on.

https://www.godot64.de/ is a software that can save BMP on regular C64 
hardware.  Can't load it, but some other PC formats like PCX and GIF can 
be loaded.

> Or a database program that would write DBF files?

I thought we are talking about „as if they were computers of 2021“. ;-)

So I would expect no less than Sqlite3 database files.

Ciao,
	Marc 'BlackJack' Rintsch
-- 
„With the neutron bomb, which destroys life but not property,
  capitalism has found the weapon of its dreams.” — Edward Abbey
Received on 2021-12-13 05:00:02

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