[HN Gopher] X11-Basic (1991-2020)
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       X11-Basic (1991-2020)
        
       Author : akkartik
       Score  : 67 points
       Date   : 2024-09-25 15:54 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (x11-basic.sourceforge.net)
 (TXT) w3m dump (x11-basic.sourceforge.net)
        
       | nazgulsenpai wrote:
       | > The interpreter (xbasic) can be used as a shell. It can run
       | basic-scripts in all environments, p.ex. *.cgi-Scripts for
       | handling web-input.
       | 
       | This is both terrifying and something I definitely want to play
       | with.
        
         | dhosek wrote:
         | Back in the olden days, when you booted up a computer, you got
         | dumped into what was essentially a BASIC shell. If your input
         | didn't start with a line number it was interpreted immediately.
         | Having only experienced that sort of environment, I didn't
         | understand how programming languages like Pascal that didn't
         | have line numbers worked.
        
       | ok123456 wrote:
       | There was also Basmark QuickBasic Compiler for Linux,
       | 
       | https://archive.org/details/bqb49
        
       | gabrielsroka wrote:
       | 2022 https://github.com/kollokollo/X11Basic And
       | https://codeberg.org/kollo/X11Basic
        
         | eadmund wrote:
         | I see from the latter link that the last update was in February
         | 2024 -- glad that the project is still alive!
        
       | _joel wrote:
       | How have I lived for this long on the interwebs an never realised
       | this was a thing?
        
         | mmcgaha wrote:
         | I thought the same thing. I would have loved to have known
         | about this 30 years ago. If only there had been an o'reilly
         | book.
        
       | johnklos wrote:
       | I had no idea that we could install third party software on
       | TomTom car navigation systems until just now.
        
         | buescher wrote:
         | Now I want to know what the most hackable US model was.
        
           | EvanAnderson wrote:
           | I see old TomTom units in thrift stores and pass them by. Now
           | I want to score one. Wild.
           | 
           | This looks like fun:
           | https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/TTconsole
        
             | buescher wrote:
             | If you click through to the github, it's the same guy from
             | X11-Basic. Looks like he wrote it for the ONE-V3.
        
         | _joel wrote:
         | > A WEB interface (via bloutooth and cgi-scripts) using a
         | webserver.
         | 
         | and serve cool warez
        
         | donatj wrote:
         | Oh yeah, I ran a location logger on mine for years until Google
         | Maps location tracking popped up.
         | 
         | Now that they're killing it... I don't think I'll go back to
         | using a TomTom any time soon lol
        
       | donatj wrote:
       | > X11-Basic will compile on 64bit systems but it will not be 100%
       | functional. X11-Basic internally uses 32bit pointers (-->
       | VARPTR()). These are not compatible with 64bit. Some tricks have
       | been implemented to make it work anyways, but do not expect 100%
       | compatibility.
        
       | behringer wrote:
       | I recently acquired an SGI Indy and was wondering if there was a
       | good BASIC for it. Will have to check this out and see if it
       | compiles!
        
         | buescher wrote:
         | That would be fun. Give Iris Explorer a spin - the demos make
         | any SGI seem like a supercomputer. (Better on an Indigo2 or
         | Octane, but hey) I did real work in Octave + gnuplot on SGI
         | machines of the era but I'd be surprised if recent versions
         | compile.
        
       | DaoVeles wrote:
       | I have said it many times before. You could fill a library with
       | all the problem that BASIC leads too. But at its core is a
       | message that is missing a little from modern computing - the
       | ability to jump in and just get something simple built quick. The
       | idea that you control the machine even if it is slow and sludgy.
       | 
       | This also goes a lot for the leap from command prompts to GUI's.
       | You trade off control for functionality and that is not
       | necessarily a bad thing. I just wish it was easier to get back to
       | a middle path on this. Many have tried but it all seems a little
       | too fragmented.
        
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       (page generated 2024-09-25 23:01 UTC)