things i wanna do:

permacomputer $0Ci4L M3D14Z

• fully update the @permacomputer project social media, which means:
  • updating the hackaday profile;
  • updating the master project page;
  • releasing a new statement on the mastodon profile.
  • (i think that covers it)

the permacomputer hardware itself

• build the first MC6847 video display 'warmup' computer.

  • i have found three projects based on 6502 which make use of the MC6847 and have published their schematics. so far so good. when the parts arrive i have to trust my breadboards and little wires are of a sufficient quality as not to bounce and ring, we're dealing with sub-1 MHz TTL-level digital signals so.... maybe my dodgy tools and components will be good enough.

• build the first permacomputer prototype

  • the next step after i have honed my practicals skills on a simpler task is this: construct a custom video display for the permacomputer, based on the information contained in don lancaster's cheap video cookbook or here if you wanna support the internet archive?
  • the reason for using custom logic for the display is the limited number of columns the MC6847--it is my hope to have 40 columns, not a mere 32. i wish i could say more, but the short story is this: using EEPROMs in place of discrete logic is the ticket to having a simple design.

the permacomputer software

• it is still my plan to get lisp running on the permacomputer (much thanks @50htz 🙏 🙏)
  • to this end see this disassembly of Acornsoft LISP for the BBC Micro. the beeb is a 6502 machine. it is my hope it can be easily ported to the permacomputer and enable a suitable operating system environment.
  • the problem is, this will make the permacomputer more like the beeb. it may not be a simple matter of reproducing the memory map of the beeb--it could require reproducing large parts of the beeb data pathways inside the permacomputer. watch this space.
  • i do not want to get too involved in writing a lisp for the permacomputer, so i am postponing this possibility until the very last moment. if i have to do everything myself, sigh, i will.

the overall 'permacomputing' approach

what is a permacomputer? what does a permacomputer do?

the ultimate goal of the project is to construct computers which will last a really long time, and still stay operational.

are you serious?

i largely regard this project to be a piece of art. if someone finds some practical use for what i am building, however, that would also make me overjoyed.

is this a kit project?

it is my pipe-dream to end up manufacturing permacomputer units at a kind of cottage-industry level, perhaps something for my worker's co-operative to do--friendly computers. i want to make these babies really, really cheap--if it's not cheap, it's not accessible to the poor.

why 80s TTL micro-electronics?

it should be taken as given that 80s micros are one of the last generations of computers that people could have a hope of comprehending and mastering every element of its specification, from hardware to the top of the software stack.