On Friday 25. November 2016 22.49.13 François Revol wrote: > On 25/11/2016 22:42, Paul Sutton wrote: > > Further to all this > > > > https://projects.drogon.net/lmc/ > > > > little man computer, is a simulator i think for assembly language > > teaching. > > Yet another option is to dig out old computers like Apple II, ORIC, ...
They actually have a room of BBC Micros at Bletchley Park for schoolchildren to use, showing them what computing used to be about and confronting them with things like BASIC and maybe even assembly language (although I doubt that they really have time for BASIC tuition let alone assembly language). One problem here is that the hardware can fail, especially given its age, but also because there are certain kinds of capacitors that tend to "pop" (which means that the room of BBC Micros needed volunteers to "re-cap" the machines before they could be rolled out), those nasty coin cells and other rechargeables that corrode and destroy the PCBs, dodgy power supplies, and increasingly rare proprietary ICs (SID, ULA) that fail and cannot be replaced. > And there are FLOSS tools now to use them, for ex. for ORIC: > http://osdk.defence-force.org/ > http://miniserve.defence-force.org/ > and a Free Software OS that runs on C64, Apple II and others, Contiki : > https://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/Contiki > > And those are all using a 6502, we can now use a larger version to > explain how it worked: > http://hackaday.com/2016/05/24/how-the-dis-integrated-6502-came-to-be/ It is actually possible to do new machines based on such CPUs because they are still in production. I guess that was originally the vague idea behind the Raspberry Pi - the instigator prototyped it using Atmel AVRs (similar to the ones used in the Arduino), I think - and the users would have had a "bare metal" experience similar to the microcomputers of old. However, the project picked up that Broadcom SoC and the rest is history. There are other "microcomputer" or "retrocomputer" projects such as ELLO 2M: https://www.crowdsupply.com/yellow-beak-computer/ello-2m These employ relatively small amounts of memory and microcontrollers, but that's enough to run low-level code or some form of BASIC. Interestingly, and a reminder to everyone about the value of Free Software, that particular project experienced problems using a proprietary BASIC and an apparently uncooperative developer which could have had serious consequences for the fulfilment of the rewards of the crowdfunding campaign in question: https://www.crowdsupply.com/yellow-beak-computer/ello-2m/updates/2399 (You have to read between the lines, but I think the video in the previous update provides more details.) But anyway, something like PIC32 (which is a MIPS variant) or one of the ARM microcontrollers would provide a microcomputer experience and yet offer workstation capabilities for those interested in more advanced concepts. (We have to encourage ambition in the next generation, after all.) What is most important, however, is that the software is Free Software - no short-cuts for the convenience of vendors - and that the materials are Free Content and coherent. Despite what was promised about the Raspberry Pi with regard to revolutions in the computing curriculum, my understanding is that not very much happened. And it's worth watching what happens with the Micro:Bit (or however it is spelled) to see whether the technology is deployed in a coherent way, whether it sustains interest, and whether it cultivates a community to support it. Paul _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion@lists.fsfe.org https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion
