Mastodawn

And TBH, I can see why some company would continue to use some 40+ year old CNC machine that runs off an i486 and originally 3,5" 720kB FDDs: Swapping merely the drives for flash and a USB-Floppy Emulator because modern stuff is way too connected and the machine still works fine.

Same with a lot of other tooling, as modern stuff has always-online #DRM and #subscription-based licensing instead of one-time-purchases.

Show thread

Solar🌄Garden Jan 5

@kkarhan @warmsignull I still have the CAD prog I designed stuff on in the 90s and took floppies to someone in Milton Keynes with a big flatbed laser cutter. Not the machine I ran it on tho. That was a Mac G3. Best machine of its time, first laptop to edit video on the hoof, hot-swapable battery/drive bays. Easy access inside and upgradeable. Black and curvy. My fav laptop ever. I refused to buy one of those ally slabs -- to me a bit like cybertruck laptops. I did eventually grab some used ones, and one of those I do still have to run OS9 to run the CAD native. I tried it in a VM once but it wasnt the same.

Show thread

Ann Effes

@wavesculptor @kkarhan @warmsignull

SheepShaver is usually quite capable. I use it to play Total Annihilation under OS9. I do have a Pismo still, but haven't used since 8 years.

Show thread

Solar🌄Garden Jan 5

@Ann_Effes @kkarhan @warmsignull yup, there's that [sheepShaver] somewhere on some disc in a lost box here too. I think my old Pismo probably got the nearest to actually "wearing-out" of any computer I ever had, inc new internal boards till I couldn't find them any more. So tatty in the end it had to go. :-(

Before that, I remember playing #crystalCave on one of the first old white Mac boxes. Never wasted so much time since. Except probably editing hours of DV on the Pismo!

Show thread

Ann Effes Jan 6

@wavesculptor @kkarhan @warmsignull

I'm not sure that I get your answer completely. I am talking about the PPC Emulator, downloadable and still maintained.
It works quite well on IntelMacs and emulates a G4-CPU with AltiVec support. Runs up to macOS 9.0.4 (not higher as it does not emulate a MMU, also macOS8.6 runs more stable) and most software for macOS 9.
And Total Annihilation is waisting my time since the 90s LOL

Show thread

Solar🌄Garden Jan 6

@Ann_Effes sheepshaver is what I used for a while when I had some 'teens Macs that would no longer run OS9. Happy to out them all when they failed for the umpteenth time. The early '00s ally slab I do still have will run OS9 alongside early OSX but of course, is far too clunky. I don't actually bother with Macs at all any more. I'm all Linux now, hardware is all ex-windows slabs I have no love of at all.

Show thread

Solar🌄Garden Jan 6

@Ann_Effes @kkarhan @warmsignull /2
if I could quickly boot sheepshaver into Zorin Linux that is running 24/7 here, I might keep that old turboCAD* prog in mind for quick sketches of stuff. But https://snapcraft.io/sheepshaver gives the nearest presumably tested distro as Ubuntu. I just haven't got time for fiddling with complex installs if that isnt the case. I'll put this one on hold till a use for it pops up and comment whenever on the results.

*and to pre-emt "why dont you use this or that modern easy CAD" --- it's that I design by numbers: typing constraints into parameters fields, not dragging cursors around on screens then spending hours finding and correcting the 10-digit slop in some 5-click-to-access panel

garden / workshop calling ....

Install SheepShaver on Linux | Snap Store

Get the latest version of SheepShaver for Linux - MacOS emulator SheepShaver - Emulates PowerPC Macs

Snapcraft