All Questions
346
questions
3
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2
answers
84
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Where to draw the line with IBM mainframe questions?
Due to the extreme backward compatibility of IBM mainframes, I think it can be harder to tell than for most other systems where to draw the line between retrocomputing questions and non-retrocomputing ...
- 3,061
5
votes
1
answer
94
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Why is rwallace's question about Acorn being closevoted?
This question
Why did Acorn use the 6502?
is receiving close votes!
I found this surprising, since my very similar question, Why did Sinclair choose the Z80 for its range of home computers?, was well-...
- 39.5k
6
votes
1
answer
128
views
Based on my long search, I have a detailed answer to this question and would like to answer it for the benefit of the community if it can be opened
I had asked a question about the demonstrated capabilities of the pioneering Mark I Perceptron.
While it generated significant interest from some of the experts, others considered it a bad question ...
- 419
10
votes
0
answers
58
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Retag request for questions about Atari 8-bit computers
It seems that most of the questions tagged here as atari-400 or atari-800 actually apply to multiple Atari 8-bit computer models. I propose that we introduce an atari-8-bit tag for questions that ...
- 1,094
7
votes
2
answers
92
views
How does the forum feel about being asked to debug program code?
In the last few days, we have had 3 different questions which have the basic structure of "please debug this program for me", followed by a lot of code. In one case over 600 lines, in ...
- 36.9k
6
votes
2
answers
75
views
Are retrospective / modern-perspective questions on-topic?
Computing history has long been part of our scope. Retrospectives – looking back at then, from the perspective of now – are an important part of historical discourse, and we often get people trying to ...
wizzwizz4Mod
- 18.7k
5
votes
1
answer
62
views
What does the community like to see with posts answering a tangential question, but not the one submitted by the asker?
https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/a/29794/107
This answer has been flagged as not being an answer to the question, and it isn't. But as always on this site, it's a record of first-hand ...
Matt LaceyMod
- 2,340
6
votes
4
answers
127
views
Do we Draw a Line at Books?
I'm a bit puzzled, and it might be just a random coincidence, but a recent question about a book did get an almost instant downvote.
Given, there is no close request, but to me the question does not ...
- 231k
3
votes
1
answer
47
views
What does a greyed out eyeball symbol with a strike through it mean?
I've never seen this symbol next to 'performance' before. What does it mean? Was it something I did? And why is this question greyed out (I assume it's related.)
I thought perhaps hovering over the ...
- 12.7k
2
votes
3
answers
255
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Would this vacuum-tube logic question be a good fit for the site?
In StackExchange ElectricalEngineering there is the question:
Were Vacuum Tube Computers made of Logic Gates?
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/704329/were-vacuum-tube-computers-made-of-...
- 720
3
votes
2
answers
109
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Do we really consider questions about early-2000s computers off-topic?
So this question just got closed as off-topic, I looked at it because an answer had been flagged, and then answered myself because I realised that some software I use could help.
I'm just curious to ...
Matt LaceyMod
- 2,340
3
votes
0
answers
54
views
Introducing a stochastic superoptimizer for retro CPUs
I'm writing to introduce my software project strop. Like a compiler, it takes a function as input, and it emits assembly language that computes the given function. But unlike a compiler, the way it ...
- 39.5k
3
votes
6
answers
113
views
What should we do about comment discussions?
Comments (on main) are not for extended discussion.
What are comments?
Comments are temporary "Post-It" notes left on a question or answer. They can be upvoted (but not downvoted) and ...
wizzwizz4Mod
- 18.7k
2
votes
5
answers
99
views
Are programming questions whose context is strictly related to retro computers on topic?
The question " Synchronising FOR - NEXT routines in C64 basic " was closed as being 'off-topic. This question does not appear to be about retrocomputing.'.
This question is asking how to do ...
- 12.7k
2
votes
0
answers
18
views
2023: a year in moderation
It’s that time of the year again! As we wave goodbye to last year and welcome the new one, we have a tradition of sharing moderation stats for the preceding calendar year.
As most of you here might be ...
- 101
6
votes
0
answers
56
views
That time of the year again
+
!
* O * Frohe Weihnachten
. * .
I * ! * I und ein
* O * O *
. * I * . Gutes Neues Jahr.
...
- 231k
1
vote
1
answer
73
views
Vanishing Comments
Maybe it's only me going Alzheimers, but over the years on RC.SE I had several times a feeling as if comments of mine (*1) just vanished without a reasonable explanation. Since I neither regularly ...
- 231k
3
votes
3
answers
125
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Do we want Discussions functionality on Retrocomputing?
I'd like to run an experiment here where we left long comment threads around. (I mean we tend to do that, but sometimes they do get moved to chat where they die.) It's just the way this particular ...
wizzwizz4Mod
- 18.7k
25
votes
4
answers
477
views
Should we avoid the low rep voting experiment?
There is a system-wide plan to test lower voting threshholds. The full details are here on Meta SE. In brief:
Reputation required to cast upvotes is changing from 15 to 1
Reputation required to cast ...
14
votes
5
answers
396
views
What does the site gain from 'identify this game I vaguely remember' questions?
There has been a recent spate of 'identify this game' posts that are woefully short on content. The general style is that the questioner remembers playing a game, provides vague details ('it was on a ...
- 36.9k
1
vote
1
answer
53
views
What should we do with invalidated answers to a reopened question
Did type-in-programs ...? was closed as being opinion-based, but not until it had garnered a whole lot of anecdotal answers. Now the question has been greatly improved to ask for actual evidence, it'...
- 1,676
1
vote
1
answer
100
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One step from being closed but nothing wrong with the question
Help identifying a platform game for UNIX from 1990s
There is nothing wrong with my question, and was nothing wrong from the beginning. What is wrong is the unjustified negative opinions to close it, ...
- 1,111
9
votes
2
answers
79
views
Are maintenance/technical manual requests OK?
Assuming a reasonable amount of searching has already been done, is it OK to ask for maintenance/technical manuals for old hardware here?
- 581
17
votes
1
answer
308
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Congratulations Raffzahn!
Massive congratulations to @raffzahn for cracking 200k! That's huge accomplishment, and a clear demonstration of Raffzahn's considerable contributions to the site.
Thank you for your efforts!
Matt LaceyMod
- 2,340
13
votes
2
answers
177
views
Massive (Belated) Congratulations to Stephen Kitt!
Better late than never I hope, but huge congratulations to stephen-kitt on hitting 100k in reputation this year. Of course at this point he's sailed beyond that to 114k.
It's a considerable ...
Matt LaceyMod
- 2,340
20
votes
1
answer
329
views
The Stack Exchange data dump has been turned back on (yay!)
On Meta SE: June 2023 Data Dump is missing.
On Meta SE: Moderation Strike update: Data dumps, choosing representatives, GPT data, and where we’re holding (Restoring the data dumps is a precondition ...
wizzwizz4Mod
- 18.7k
9
votes
0
answers
117
views
Introducing a new retrocomputing YouTube channel: Electronica Sovietica
Having checked self-promotion is OK here, I am writing to announce my new YouTube channel dedicated to my small but growing collection of Soviet retro computers and microcontrollers.
The first video ...
- 2,983
1
vote
2
answers
262
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Middle Sidebar Advertising
As you all know, advertising is an important source of revenue for Stack Overflow and it helps us support all the sites across the Stack Exchange Network and the resources that go into maintaining and ...
- 1
3
votes
1
answer
42
views
What are the rules about self promo on Meta?
I'm preparing a video showing the functioning of the MT-1804 (A 1980s Soviet bitslice processor system cloned from the 1970s AMD Am2900 Learning and Evaluation Kit), and putting it as the inaugural ...
- 2,983
4
votes
0
answers
43
views
Trivia question about snack shipped with computer products
I'd like to ask this question but I'm afraid it's off topic as trivia. Is it acceptable?
If it's acceptable but could be improved, please make suggestions.
I remember that there was a company that ...
3
votes
0
answers
44
views
What is a computer? [duplicate]
We have many questions in meta about what 'retro' means, but fewer on what 'computing' is.
In the on-topic help, we refer to 'computing equipment' without defining.
We sometimes have questions that ...
- 4,009
4
votes
3
answers
74
views
How many game identification questions would constitute a problem?
I was surprised to see some video game identification questions here, as they don't seem to fit the types of questions I'm used to seeing here that have been interesting and edifying. I checked and ...
- 103
4
votes
1
answer
158
views
Question about MS DOS
I asked this question a month ago. I asked in the comments why there are downvotes and received a comment saying:
My guess is that the question got downvoted because it contains an unsupported, and ...
- 101
10
votes
3
answers
294
views
More specific close reasons needed badly
Currently, when someone sees a question about something that doesn’t seem a good fit for the site, the only thing they can do is the least-effort option is to vote to close it for the reason that it ‘...
- 23.3k
7
votes
0
answers
48
views
2022: a year in moderation
As we say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new one, we have a tradition of sharing moderation stats for the preceding calendar year.
As most of you here are aware, sites on the Stack Exchange ...
- 101
12
votes
9
answers
492
views
ChatGPT - Yes or no?
We have had our first post from the ChatGPT AI answering bot. Or at least, a post flagged by an AI detecting AI as 99% probable AI generated. The answer has not been deleted - yet, it isn't a very ...
ChenmunkaMod
- 8,171
3
votes
1
answer
49
views
Are questions about curating and preserving resources on-topic?
Meta Stack Exchange has a question, Bulk Fix possible for "Old New Thing" links? Important Win32 resource. My answer to this is "no, not really; it's hard, and I don't know how to":...
wizzwizz4Mod
- 18.7k
3
votes
1
answer
43
views
Should we add a favicon to the main site?
Our site favicon (the websites little tab icon aka for meta and for regular) is pretty plain right now. The banner is also a bit stereotypical.
Should we change the banner and favicon to add ...
- 443
8
votes
6
answers
346
views
Nearly 6 years from: 'Is XP retro'. Are we there yet?
So back in early 2017, Is XP considered retrocomputing yet was asked. I was of the opinion then that it wasn't. I think it now qualifies by a criterion not mentioned in that previous question.
While ...
- 923
17
votes
4
answers
244
views
Abuse of moderator fiat vote
Not so long ago, the question https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/q/25438/15334 has been asked. As originally written, and even after revisions, I would consider it somewhat problematic (and ...
- 23.3k
8
votes
2
answers
201
views
Is asking for the existence of a device equal to a buying recommendation?
I asked for the existence of Game Boy clones which can read Game Boy cartridges.
The question was closed because it was seen as a buying recommendation.
Is this legitimate?
- 5,372
9
votes
3
answers
215
views
Unpinning accepted answers
Some sites on Stack Exchange have decided to unpin the asker-accepted answer in the default sort order. The official rationale for this (at least initially) was to promote fresh, up-to-date answers ...
- 23.3k
2
votes
2
answers
83
views
Why doesn't stackexchange have a dedicated appeal system?
My experience with stackexchange has been...rough to say the least. People with more privilege then me tend to close my questions unfairly, and generally act unprofessionally. While this is far more ...
- 4,071
1
vote
1
answer
61
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Was my comment on my answer on this post removed, and why?
Was my comment on my answer on this question removed, and why?
What is this early 3D platformer?
It was an unpleasant shock to see the site silently misrepresenting me as rude by not acknowledging ...
- 12.7k
6
votes
1
answer
81
views
Is the RC2014 on topic or not?
The RC2014 is a computer based on a Z80, and designed to run Microsoft BASIC
From the front page of their website,
RC2014 is a simple 8 bit Z80 based modular computer originally built to run ...
- 39.5k
4
votes
1
answer
118
views
What's the difference between [cassette-tape] and [magnetic-tape]?
cassette-tape, 67 questions:
For questions about audio cassette tape, as used for computer data storage.
Many 1970s-era personal computers used audio cassettes for data storage. Some early software ...
wizzwizz4Mod
- 18.7k
2
votes
1
answer
35
views
Changing the close reason of a question
The question How does the BIOS distinguish Interrupt(08h-12h) from INT instructions, vs. actual exceptions inside the CPU? was originally written in a rather confusing way, to the point where I ...
- 23.3k
10
votes
2
answers
134
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Should questions about connecting older hardware to modern networks be in scope?
SE:RC exists to ask and answer questions about "how to use or preserve computing equipment that is no longer manufactured or supported by the manufacturer" [see help].
I am interesting in ...
- 4,009
4
votes
1
answer
67
views
Congratulations Retrocomputing!
I noticed this morning that Retrocomputing is finally out of Beta! Congratulations. It's possible that I'm late to the party and just didn't notice until now. When was this stack promoted?
- 9,356
2
votes
1
answer
33
views
Why not have a dark-background with a light text on Retrocomputing, as either an option, or default?
Why not have a dark-background with a light text on Retrocomputing, as either an option, or default?
I do get the impression most of the internet prefers dark text on a light background, only because ...
- 127