[Coco] OS-9 Linux comment -- advice/comments for a noob.

[Frank Swygert]

Hex, and any other newcomers, the reason your statement is funny is that OS-9 was developed from the Unix model way before Linux saw the light of day. In a nutshell OS-9 is "unix" for the Motorola 6809 processor. It's not a version of unix because of the total re-write required and the limitations imposed by the 8/16 bit 6809 processor. The 6809 is an 8 bit processor with a couple of 16 bit registers, IIRC. That makes it a little more powerful than something like a Z-80 or 6502 (Sinclair and other CoCo contemporaries used the Z-80, Apple II and Commodore 64 the 6502). The Z-80 did have much faster versions, but compared to a similar speed Z-80 (using one of the speed indexes -- you can't compare different type processors by clock speed) the 6809 had that 16 bit register advantage, when/if the programmer could take advantage of it. Wouldn't help everything, I wouldn't think. I know it does nothing for most (if not all) BASIC programs.

As far as comparing to MS-BASIC (or GW-BASIC).... well, CoCo BASIC is similar enough to be familiar and easy to learn if you know MS/GW line number (not visual) BASIC. There are lots of differences, and lots of limitations. I started to "convert" a GW-BASIC genealogy database program to CoCo3 BASIC (needed an 80 column screen). Should have been relatively simple, I thought, but there are enough differences and limitations that I had to totally re-write 80% or more of the program. I gave the PD program author some credit though -- the title screen said "Based on GW-BASIC program xxxxx by xxxx". I figured since over 75%  of the program was original, that was enough. Basically I used the GW-BASIC program as a guide and used the general concept, but that was about it. I did throw in a lot of things that were unique to the CoCo to speed it up a bit. 

The big attraction of the CoCo for most is/was the fact that you could hack on it hardware and software wise. I bought my first one in 1984 after wasting $100 on a Sinclair (not the little one, the next step up) only to find that peripherals were way to expensive or limited. A bit of research revealed that the CoCo would use standard peripherals with just a few limitations (needed the CoCo disk controller, and printers and such needed to be serial or required a serial/parallel converter -- also a special serial cable, but that could be cheaply made from RS parts). That's why I bought a CoCo instead of one of the bargain C-64s or TI-99/4As that were hitting department store shelves across the country about that time. I found Rainbow Magazine shortly after, and bought a soldering iron about six months after buying that first CoCo. I just made a few mods -- made my own cables, added a couple lights, made my own disk drive enclosure with some surplus IBM drives, and repackaged the whole setup in an aluminum foil lined wood box to make it more convenient to setup and move. I didn't get a hard drive until much later, and never really got into OS-9 much. OS-9 really opens the CoCo up, but by the time I was ready for that Windows PCs were reasonably priced and the software was much better. I published a CoCo magazine for a while after Rainbow stopped publishing -- had 600 subscribers at the peak, which was just a couple years later. Then it started going down rapidly as Windows machines easily outmatched the CoCo in software quality and ease of use, and prices weren't that much more. When I stopped publishing there were still a bit over 200 subscribers. 

The CoCo still has a loyal hacker following because it just can't be beat for that. It's hard to turn a Windows PC into a simple light controller, or CNC machine (I said SIMPLE!!). It can be done with the proper card and software, but with the CoCo you can program it yourself and make a simple I/O or relay card to plug in, or even use the joystick and cassette ports if only a few I/O lines are required. CoCo 2s are cheap -- many have given up their motherboards to become dedicated controllers. Several companies bought CoCo 2s and 3s and used them in low production items -- one excercise equipment company used them for the "brains" in a computerized treadmill. They bought a bunch of them from RS when they went out of production. 

Although I just read the list and don't play with a real CoCo anymore, I can still say it's just a FUN machine! It's easy to learn about the ins and outs of computers on -- not just being a user, but learning how and why things work the way they do. That and nostalgia is keeping it alive today and keeping demand up a bit, IMHO. Some users want to know how computers work, but it's very difficult and expensive to do on a standard PC -- they are to complicated and expensive now. With the CoCo you can easily see how things interact, and get a real feeling about what goes in software on behind that pretty "window" picture when you delve into OS-9 (the same can be said for command line Linux, but that's quickly becoming a thing of the past with all the new visual "desktop" distros -- which is a good thing for the common user and Linux in general). 



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Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:00:25 -0400
From: "Paul Fitch" <pfitchjr at bellsouth.net>
Subject: Re: [Coco] Coco Digest, Vol 49, Issue 39


> > OS9 (seems like a very interesting OS whose programmability 
> > makes it infinitely flexible...perhaps like linux), 
>   

This is funny<g>.

-- 
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html
(free download available!)