I do like Raspberry Pi. I have and use several of them. From an open hardware perspective, the Raspberry Pi foundation has grown to be an 800 pound gorilla full of love and tenderness.
I think the answer is simpler, much simpler. The closest example I can find was produced nearly 20 years ago:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaSmart
Specifically the AlphaSmart Neo or Neo2. These devices have a sufficient screen for editing text, a very good keypad (compared to a Raspberry Pi 400), and are powered by 3 AA batteries for 700 hours runtime (as touted in the owner's manual). Communication interfaces include USB and an IR modem.
The only real hardware limitation that I see with this device, besides being 20 years out of production, is the lack of mass storage. 512 kByte battery-backed SRAM is what you get for storage while the OS and application live in a 2 MByte Flash.
On the software side there isn't much to write about, you get a fairly decent word processor and a minimal calculator.
I do not recommend adopting these devices for the ForeverComputer hardware, only as an example of what is possible for hardware. The CPU/SoC is no longer manufactured and the AlphaSmart units remaining in circulation carry the scars from sometimes harsh educational service. This would not be much of a start for hardware intended to last 50 years.
I firmly believe that the OS should support an (offline!) programming environment. Like the built-in BASIC of decades past, having a computer meant having the ability to program one. The additional requirements for programming in those days were a reference manual or two and a willingness to learn. We should not have discarded this fundamental capability.
I'm going to go out on a limb concerning the OS and suggest that the ForeverComputer should *not* run Linux. Linux is great for supporting a wide range of computer hardware. Linux is great for managing multiple unreliable communication interfaces from many different vendors, mostly without bogging down the user experience. Linux (Android) is great for games, movies, and other sensory candy. That being said, the Linux kernel alone is an 30 million lines-of-code overkill for reading keystrokes, displaying text on a screen, editing files on a disk, and transferring those files over simple communication interfaces.
No matter what hardware gets created, the software complexity of the Linux kernel and basic applications are the largest hurdle to a 10-year lifespan (let alone the stated goal of 50).
-Gajma
Sent with Proton Mail secure email.
My first post here, so hello everybody,
an Alphasmart Neo with something like NetBSD and an ed-like line
editor (in a perfect world, the CLI part of Plan9's sam [1]) is
something I've been dreaming about. Internet connectivity is not
essential; a capable line editor + USB file transfer would make it a
perfect writing machine, I guess.
Best,
Mart,
from Estonia
On 06/12/2022, Gajma Dziki <gajmadd@pm.me> wrote:
> I do like Raspberry Pi. I have and use several of them. From an open> hardware perspective, the Raspberry Pi foundation has grown to be an 800> pound gorilla full of love and tenderness.>> I think the answer is simpler, much simpler. The closest example I can find> was produced nearly 20 years ago:>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaSmart>> Specifically the AlphaSmart Neo or Neo2. These devices have a sufficient> screen for editing text, a very good keypad (compared to a Raspberry Pi> 400), and are powered by 3 AA batteries for 700 hours runtime (as touted in> the owner's manual). Communication interfaces include USB and an IR modem.>> The only real hardware limitation that I see with this device, besides being> 20 years out of production, is the lack of mass storage. 512 kByte> battery-backed SRAM is what you get for storage while the OS and application> live in a 2 MByte Flash.>> On the software side there isn't much to write about, you get a fairly> decent word processor and a minimal calculator.>> I do not recommend adopting these devices for the ForeverComputer hardware,> only as an example of what is possible for hardware. The CPU/SoC is no> longer manufactured and the AlphaSmart units remaining in circulation carry> the scars from sometimes harsh educational service. This would not be much> of a start for hardware intended to last 50 years.>> I firmly believe that the OS should support an (offline!) programming> environment. Like the built-in BASIC of decades past, having a computer> meant having the ability to program one. The additional requirements for> programming in those days were a reference manual or two and a willingness> to learn. We should not have discarded this fundamental capability.>> I'm going to go out on a limb concerning the OS and suggest that the> ForeverComputer should *not* run Linux. Linux is great for supporting a wide> range of computer hardware. Linux is great for managing multiple unreliable> communication interfaces from many different vendors, mostly without bogging> down the user experience. Linux (Android) is great for games, movies, and> other sensory candy. That being said, the Linux kernel alone is an 30> million lines-of-code overkill for reading keystrokes, displaying text on a> screen, editing files on a disk, and transferring those files over simple> communication interfaces.>> No matter what hardware gets created, the software complexity of the Linux> kernel and basic applications are the largest hurdle to a 10-year lifespan> (let alone the stated goal of 50).>> -Gajma>>> Sent with Proton Mail secure email.>
Ugh, forgot to add the link to sam's homepage: http://sam.cat-v.org/
An overview of the command language by the author, Rob Pike:
http://doc.cat-v.org/bell_labs/sam_lang_tutorial/sam_tut.pdf
Best,
Mart
On 06/12/2022, Mart Zirnask <martzirnask@gmail.com> wrote:
> My first post here, so hello everybody,>> an Alphasmart Neo with something like NetBSD and an ed-like line> editor (in a perfect world, the CLI part of Plan9's sam [1]) is> something I've been dreaming about. Internet connectivity is not> essential; a capable line editor + USB file transfer would make it a> perfect writing machine, I guess.>> Best,> Mart,> from Estonia>> On 06/12/2022, Gajma Dziki <gajmadd@pm.me> wrote:>> I do like Raspberry Pi. I have and use several of them. From an open>> hardware perspective, the Raspberry Pi foundation has grown to be an 800>> pound gorilla full of love and tenderness.>>>> I think the answer is simpler, much simpler. The closest example I can>> find>> was produced nearly 20 years ago:>>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaSmart>>>> Specifically the AlphaSmart Neo or Neo2. These devices have a sufficient>> screen for editing text, a very good keypad (compared to a Raspberry Pi>> 400), and are powered by 3 AA batteries for 700 hours runtime (as touted>> in>> the owner's manual). Communication interfaces include USB and an IR>> modem.>>>> The only real hardware limitation that I see with this device, besides>> being>> 20 years out of production, is the lack of mass storage. 512 kByte>> battery-backed SRAM is what you get for storage while the OS and>> application>> live in a 2 MByte Flash.>>>> On the software side there isn't much to write about, you get a fairly>> decent word processor and a minimal calculator.>>>> I do not recommend adopting these devices for the ForeverComputer>> hardware,>> only as an example of what is possible for hardware. The CPU/SoC is no>> longer manufactured and the AlphaSmart units remaining in circulation>> carry>> the scars from sometimes harsh educational service. This would not be>> much>> of a start for hardware intended to last 50 years.>>>> I firmly believe that the OS should support an (offline!) programming>> environment. Like the built-in BASIC of decades past, having a computer>> meant having the ability to program one. The additional requirements for>> programming in those days were a reference manual or two and a>> willingness>> to learn. We should not have discarded this fundamental capability.>>>> I'm going to go out on a limb concerning the OS and suggest that the>> ForeverComputer should *not* run Linux. Linux is great for supporting a>> wide>> range of computer hardware. Linux is great for managing multiple>> unreliable>> communication interfaces from many different vendors, mostly without>> bogging>> down the user experience. Linux (Android) is great for games, movies, and>> other sensory candy. That being said, the Linux kernel alone is an 30>> million lines-of-code overkill for reading keystrokes, displaying text on>> a>> screen, editing files on a disk, and transferring those files over simple>> communication interfaces.>>>> No matter what hardware gets created, the software complexity of the>> Linux>> kernel and basic applications are the largest hurdle to a 10-year>> lifespan>> (let alone the stated goal of 50).>>>> -Gajma>>>>>> Sent with Proton Mail secure email.>>>
On 22/12/06 10:09, Mart Zirnask - martzirnask at gmail.com wrote:
>Ugh, forgot to add the link to sam's homepage: http://sam.cat-v.org/>>An overview of the command language by the author, Rob Pike:>http://doc.cat-v.org/bell_labs/sam_lang_tutorial/sam_tut.pdf>>Best,>Mart
I have always been curious to see a comparison between Sam and Vim as
both are ed successors. (Vim user here)
But I think we can all agree that a text editor is very personal and
that the definition of a computer it so be able to run any text editor
so it would be outside the scope of this list to start a discussion
about editors.