Last year in (my) computing
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Year ago I made for myself a list of seven thing, I would like
to do in 2015. How did it end up?
1. Complete the PC for media backups
This one is done. The PC was stuffed with all different drives
I could find and is working quite nicely with Slackware 14.1.
I already used it couple of times to retrieve data from old SCSI
disks and 5.25" floppies. There is one little thing to do: CPU fan
needs replacing, but that's just a minor problem, since it only
makes a funny noise, but still works.
2. Reinstall PowerMac G5
This one is done as well, although with some minor changes. I indeed
did the OS X reinstall, because I wanted to have my G5 cleaned of the
stuff I don't need anymore after five years of use. But after trying
all existing Linux distributions without systemd as well as all BSD
variants with PowerPC port, I decided to have just OS X on this
machine.
3. Put OpenBSD on the PowerBook G4
The same as with G5. I did all the stuff necessary and then reverted
back to OS X on this computer. In January and February I even placed
PowerBook on my desk, connected it to the 24" LCD and used it as
a main computer. OpenBSD works very well on this machine, but for me
there is just no reason to have it installed. Of course if you have
a G4 for daily use and need up-to-date software, then there is no
better choice than OpenBSD.
4. Connect Apple Keyboard II to PowerMac G5
This is probably the only item on the list, I didn't even start with.
I still want to use Apple Keyboard II with some of my computers,
because I simply never used a better keyboard than this one. I will
keep this item on the 2016 list and I hope to finish it this time.
5. Make my SGI Indigo2 work
Not exactly finished, but at least I managed to connect the Indigo2
to a serial terminal and tried to boot it. Unfortunately it seems,
that the internal SCSI drive is not working properly, because the boot
process ended in tons of error messages. So now I have to find another
SCSI disk, then purchase/borrow/download Irix install disks, then
repair video port and then finally install and use it. Long way to go.
6 Finish at least one utility on ZX Spectrum and release it
If there is anything on the list, I'm seriously sad about not
finishing, then it's this one. I didn't have much time to visit
Sinclair Club in Pilsen as much as I did in previous years and at home
there is rarely time to sit with my favorite 8-bit computer and code.
I will keep this one on the 2016 list as well and will hope for better
times.
7. Write a gopher client
When I added this to my list, I was thinking about fully-featured
client for actual daily use. In the end I wrote script for recursive
download via Gopher, which I used several times to get music shared
by fellow gopher masters. I take this point as done, because this
is a client, though not a universal one.
I will call it semi-successful year. It was rich for non-computer
related events: it was the first year with our baby and it was the
year we moved to small town after long years in Prague. I hope that
2016 will be much more quiet with more time for leisure computing.
Expect my new list here in few weeks!
