[HN Gopher] Wallops: A modern IRC client for classic Mac OS
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       Wallops: A modern IRC client for classic Mac OS
        
       Author : todsacerdoti
       Score  : 87 points
       Date   : 2024-09-13 01:51 UTC (21 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (jcs.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (jcs.org)
        
       | bitwize wrote:
       | I oughta show my wife this. She used ircle back in the day.
        
       | keepamovin wrote:
       | It would be cool if this could be plugged into Infinite Mac:
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41499239
       | 
       | If they could be given network access, and permitted to install
       | software, would be so awesome!!! :)
        
       | jdboyd wrote:
       | I just love new software for old machines (especially multi-
       | tasking systems).
        
       | lampiaio wrote:
       | Seeing new software being released for the classic Mac is
       | freakin' awesome, please keep up the great work. I just wish
       | Macintosh (either 68k or PowerPC) emulators improved a bit more,
       | I no longer have a functioning machine and they're not getting
       | any cheaper.
        
         | lampreyface wrote:
         | MAME's Mac emulation has improved a lot recently. Give it a
         | try.
        
       | bjoli wrote:
       | Writing software for old systems can sometimes be frustrating,
       | but mostly it is SO nice. The target was usually quite simple and
       | you don't have to deal with all the extra obstacles and choices
       | that are obligatory today when running software on a bazillion
       | different systems.
       | 
       | Not even having the option to deal with unicode can be such a
       | breath of fresh air.
        
         | szszrk wrote:
         | I recall era before UTF8 wide adoptiont to be a mess of many
         | other encodings, multiple even in the same language... Not a
         | refreshing memory for me.
        
           | koito17 wrote:
           | Even today, Japanese text online and elsewhere uses a variety
           | of encodings. It's sometimes a frustrating experience.
           | Compared to other languages, it is common to see non-Unicode
           | encodings. In particular, Shift JIS (actually, the Windows-
           | specific variant called Windows-932, which is incompatible
           | with JIS X 0213:2004, called "Shift JIS 2004". Old enough
           | Unix and Linux servers used EUC-JP, and Mac OS has its own
           | encoding).
        
           | bjoli wrote:
           | Well, for something like an IRC client it is up for the user
           | to set the correct one.
        
             | szszrk wrote:
             | :) what is the correct one? It's different for each server,
             | or even channel. IRC clients usually supported such custom
             | settings. But then there was the matter of the other end of
             | your screen - your terminal and maybe screen session I
             | which it run.
             | 
             | I used to have an IRC config that was different for each
             | server and sometimes channel, then displayed that in one
             | shared encoding with other chat apos, then converted that
             | on the fly with screen to match encoding of other apps.
             | 
             | Now I just had to make sure to convert encodings and line
             | endings of all config files, any text file, or even source
             | code and scripts...
             | 
             | Nowadays you just paste emojis in code and it's there, it
             | works anyone, including the user. Huge change.
        
               | finaard wrote:
               | The correct one is the one that doesn't get you yelled at
               | and possibly banned by the rest of the channel.
        
               | bjoli wrote:
               | Yes. Today's messaging services require no skills
               | whatsoever. Getting yelled at the first time you log in
               | establishes pecking order and ensures people weigh their
               | words.
               | 
               | Discord doesn't have these kind of safeguards.
        
       | veltas wrote:
       | Tried reading the source code on their website and every line of
       | source has a scrollbar under it, making it very difficult to
       | read. Not sure what caused this, zooming out doesn't help.
        
       | sen wrote:
       | This is brilliant. I've been tempted to get my Macintosh SE
       | online just for fun and this would be a great use for it.
       | Permanent little IRC terminal.
        
         | dented42 wrote:
         | I'm serious considering it too...
        
       | pcdoodle wrote:
       | Even the icon is well thought out.
        
         | bbarnett wrote:
         | The example image is weird though. Where do you type?? I see no
         | input field.
         | 
         | (I'm not a mac guy, am I just missing it?)
        
           | cpach wrote:
           | Maybe the white bar below the tabs?
        
             | bbarnett wrote:
             | Huh. For some reason I thought that was a bottom window
             | decoration, I think the button on the far right of it
             | confused me, but that must be it.
        
               | duskwuff wrote:
               | As a long-time Mac user, that bit of the screenshot
               | confused me as well. It looks exactly like a disabled
               | horizontal scroll bar would.
        
       | Cyberdog wrote:
       | Leave that page open in a tab without moving your mouse over the
       | window for a couple minutes for a cute little treat.
        
       | anthk wrote:
       | I wonder how JCS didn't write a Gopher client. I know there are
       | several, but he might add some nice features such as converting
       | most Unicode chars to Mac-Roman or whatever did Mac OS use in the
       | 90's.
        
       | mrweasel wrote:
       | So now the classic Mac has a nicer IRC client than the latest
       | macOS.
        
       | haunter wrote:
       | How long does it take to verify the SHA256 sum on an System 6
       | Mac?
        
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       (page generated 2024-09-13 23:02 UTC)