[HN Gopher] PC GEOS: the multitasking DOS-based GUI OS that evol...
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       PC GEOS: the multitasking DOS-based GUI OS that evolved from a C64
       desktop
        
       Author : lproven
       Score  : 35 points
       Date   : 2023-12-10 20:45 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | orionblastar wrote:
       | Don't forget GEM: https://www.owenrudge.net/GEM/dist
        
       | joneholland wrote:
       | Many good memories using geo works ensemble in the early 90s.
        
       | supportengineer wrote:
       | I used GEOS on the C64, it was, and still is an astounding
       | programming accomplishment.
        
         | api wrote:
         | It puts into perspective just what a spectacular amount of
         | bloat we have in modern software.
         | 
         | A lot of it comes from diversity though.
         | 
         | GEOS was a tightly coupled system with one design, API, and
         | programming paradigm. Same goes with classic macOS and other
         | old school desktops. You had no more than two or three
         | languages in use (usually ASM, C, and something like Pascal),
         | one GUI library, one set of runtime libraries, etc.
         | 
         | Today your typical desktop hosts apps written in dozens of
         | languages using dozens of graphics libraries and rendering
         | layers. To make all that interoperable requires a Byzantine
         | mess of APIs and interfaces and across the whole system there's
         | tons of duplicated effort.
         | 
         | I remember a silent paradigm shift happening in the 2000s when
         | we abandoned the question of what the "best" language or OS was
         | and instead concluded "we'll just run everything all at once."
         | 
         | So now we need 16 gigabytes of RAM for a desktop.
        
       | shortrounddev2 wrote:
       | Any pics?
        
       | GeekyBear wrote:
       | GEOS was an impressive example of accomplishing much despite
       | extremely constrained resources.
        
       | smallstepforman wrote:
       | The documentation and code clarity for older assembly projects is
       | by a magnitude more pleasant than any modern source I've looked
       | at during the last 20 years. We should be ashamed of what we've
       | done in our profession.
        
       | HeckFeck wrote:
       | Is this the original GEOS source code or a reimplementation?
        
       | Doctor_Fegg wrote:
       | Similarly, it still tickles me that LibreOffice evolved from a
       | word-processor for the Amstrad CPC.
       | 
       | LibreOffice < OpenOffice < StarOffice < StarWriter
       | 
       | https://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Star-Writer
        
       | dep_b wrote:
       | I think I still have it somewhere in a box
        
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       (page generated 2023-12-10 23:00 UTC)