Simulating a Machine From the 80s
Posted4 months agoActive3 months ago
rmazur.ioTechstory
supportivepositive
Debate
20/100
RetrocomputingEmulationVintage Computers
Key topics
Retrocomputing
Emulation
Vintage Computers
The author simulates a vintage computer from behind the Iron Curtain, sparking interest and nostalgia in the HN community for retrocomputing and vintage machines.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Moderate engagementFirst comment
3d
Peak period
7
84-96h
Avg / period
3
Comment distribution12 data points
Loading chart...
Based on 12 loaded comments
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Sep 18, 2025 at 4:03 PM EDT
4 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Sep 22, 2025 at 1:52 AM EDT
3d after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
7 comments in 84-96h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Sep 24, 2025 at 5:05 AM EDT
3 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
ID: 45294297Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 3:25:59 PM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
That thing did *not* like port scans. (I warned 'em! :D)
I'm currently writing assembler for my own virtual cpu hehe. Stack based of course
https://www.hoa.org/blog/jack-allweiss/evolution-of-burrough...
In retrospect I do wonder if they did that so that when we moved to Unix machines later in the course we'd really appreciate them!
It was first released in 1961 - is there any other software, particularly an OS, still in production after that long?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burroughs_MCP
What do you mean? As a security feature or would it crash or something if you port scanned it?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AcQifPHcMLE
My favourite machine of the 80's - the Oric-1/Atmos system - was cloned in the Eastern bloc countries by Pravetz, and became known as the Pravetz 8D. It was quite an interesting day when support for that clone dropped into the Oric emulator scene (Oricutron) and we could see how 'the other side' hacked on the architecture. Something about having Cyrillic where the lower-case character set should be, just tickles my hacker heart.
(I'd love to have a Pravetz 8D machine in my retro-collection, in case anyone sees one somewhere.. ;)
We did the same on the ZX Spectrum in Greece for our programs: replace the lowercase latin letters with the keyboard-matching greek letters.
I still remember the vulgar ΣΨΡΟΛΛ? when the screen filled up and the machine asked your permission to scroll!