Bruno LevyMar 4
My brand new computer !
- does not fit in my backpack (bad !)
- runs Unix (good !)
- OS does not have AI extension that I don't want (good !)
- 32 Kb of main memory, I'll need to optimize hashtag#geogram a bit (good !)
Show threadEric Goodwin
@BrunoLevy01 @cstross I learned assembly on a PDP11! Always had a soft spot for them. Looks great!
Mar 4 at 9:50pmWeb
Show threadBonkersMar 4

@auxonic @BrunoLevy01 @cstross I learned its assembly on a Soviet clone :)

Not even assembly, l was writing machine code in octal numbers :)

Show threadan actual busMar 5
@bonkers @auxonic @BrunoLevy01 @cstross Hours of fun, I bet 😆
Show threadBruno LevyMar 6
@bonkers @auxonic @cstross did that on an Apple][+ (its ROM monitor had a disassembler but no assembler!)
Show threadBonkersMar 6
@BrunoLevy01 @auxonic @cstross well, we didn't have Macs in the USSR, alas. Someone could smuggle a ZX Spectrum, but I was less lucky.
Show threadBruno LevyMar 6
@bonkers @auxonic @cstross not a mac, an Apple][ (dates back when apple was still manufacturing real computers, that you could open, repair, modify etc...)
Show threadBonkersMar 6
@BrunoLevy01 @auxonic @cstross ah, right, pre-Macintosh, which is also ancient by now ;)
Show threadJyrgen NMar 6
@bonkers @auxonic @BrunoLevy01 @cstross As a student I did a bit of -11 assembly — great instruction set! The manual was a joy to read. (That was a time when I read CPU manuals on my commute to the university and SunOS manpages in bed before sleeping.)
The code ran not on a glorious beast like this, though, but on a mere Pro 350.
Show threadJyrgen NMar 7
@bonkers @auxonic @BrunoLevy01 @cstross And yes, only now re-reading your post I remember: The CPU manual showed that opcodes for each of the instructions, and they were so well organised that I think it must be (or, for most, have been if at all) relatively easy to learn them. So logical and structured!
Show threadBonkersMar 7

@jyrgenn @auxonic @BrunoLevy01 @cstross yes, it was pretty easy to grasp, even for a schoolboy (I was around 7th or 8th grade if I recall it right). The coolest thing, it helped me understand how computers work.

I'm really puzzled by today's programmers who code in something like JavaScript and have no idea what's happening on the CPU level.