
CPU of the Day: Fairchild F9445: The MicroFlame Flames Out - protomyth
http://www.cpushack.com/2017/11/14/cpu-of-the-day-fairchild-f9445-the-microflame-flames-out/
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tux1968
If you haven't read The Soul of a New Machine, which chronicles the creation
of one new Data General machine, it's well worth picking up a copy.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Soul_of_a_New_Machine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Soul_of_a_New_Machine)

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csours
The article and one of the comments mentions that the Hawk Emulator is still
in use.

Does anyone know how these would be used now, and why?

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protomyth
A lot of old computers were used as front-ends to manufacturing or test
systems. I know one place that had a PDP-8 well into the 2000's running their
barge offloading. It was pretty expensive to change since for some reason they
couldn't run an emulator (direct hardware?) and the guy babysitting it had to
have a lot of spare parts on hand. Some of this old equipment is really costly
to replace just because the computer is old. Plus, you have to figure out what
the old software is doing.

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korethr
And that last bit, figuring out what the old software is doing, can be a bitch
and a half. You don't have to just replicate the spec or documentation (if it
is accurate or even exists at all), you have to replicate the classic behavior
perfectly, down the the last bug. 'Cause if you don't, you risk finding out
just how much more expensive the manufacturing system is than than the
computer controlling it.

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protomyth
The fun part I found was "do you actually have the source code". Even if you
do, the variety of language variants from the early years of computing is mind
boggling.

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duncan_bayne
Huh. I didn't realise they had JavaScript frameworks that long ago.

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protomyth
No JavaScript framework is on the same level of confusion that DEC by itself
with it multiple weird languages and semantics inflicted upon programmers.
Never mind the other vendors. JavaScript actually has a standards document.

