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retro computing & lions

lion-mclionheadlion mclionhead wrote 04/02/2018 at 00:21 • 2 min read • Like

Ready Player One might be the peak of retro computing fever or at least the peak of attention to it.  FVWM was written in 1993. XTerm was written in 1984. NEdit was written in 1992. X11 began in 1984. So lions have manely used the same tools since 1995 & those tools date back to the Commodore 64.

Lions were into retro computing long before retro computing was a fad, but manely in a UNIX sense rather than an 8 bit PC sense. There was always a fascination with the simplicity of these tools compared to the massive marketing gimmicks that modern interfaces have become. X11 is still the only thing which actually works over a network.

After the decline of early 8 bit PCs, early UNIX workstations were the only computers that interested lions. They were more expensive & capable than what any private individual could afford, yet since the introduction of Linux, could be recreated on any PC hardware.

The retro computing fad has sorely overlooked early UNIX workstations from the same time period. Millenials know what Koala paint was, but not what XTerm was. It's based on what consumers could afford. Lions have been lucky to be able to base most of their income on using retro tools, though it may not be the most productive way to go.

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