Questions tagged [discussion]
The question you're asking is designed to solicit opinions or best-practices on a particular topic, with the goal of reaching community consensus.
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Can I ask a question about how to maintain/fix components on a vintage Mac?
I would like to ask a question about how to maintain (clean-up corrosion) on a vintage Mac logic board. Is this question OK?
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Should we create a tag for the Dragon32 yet?
The Dragon 32 (and Dragon 64) were British microcomputers from the early 1980s that had a lot in common with the Tandy "CoCo" Color Computers. Not technically a clone but often compatible.
We only ...
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Can I ask a question about retrocomputing accessories for repair recommendations?
Recently, I managed to break my TRS-80 tape recorder. And, I was wondering if its ontopic. Before I ask, (to me it seems obvious, but I want to be safe than sorry for generating any downvtotes)
Can I ...
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nitros9 (modified clone of retro OS) - on topic?
I want to ask a question about using nitros9. Nitros9 is a modern clone of the original OS-9 operating system used on the coco3. Nitros9 is run on both vintage coco3 hardware, and on modern ...
CommunityBot
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We have an "apple dos" tag. Do we need an "apple prodos" tag?
The 8-bit Apple II had two disk operating systems, DOS and ProDOS.
Currently we have a specific tag for apple-dos but no matching tag for ProDOS. The text of the apple-dos tag seems clear that it ...
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Should microcomputer model tags include manufacturer?
I feel our tags for microcomputers are not consistent.
Some tags include the manufacturer & model such as apple-macintosh or sega-genesis. Others do not, such as cpc for the Amstrad CPC range, zx-...
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Is posting in Meta the best way to get the main chat room reopened?
It seems the retrocomputing chat room here is so little used that it gets closed down all the time automatically by the system.
If somebody with appropriate powers can reopen "The BBS" that would be ...
wizzwizz4Mod
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Tagging mistake
About a week ago I made a tag to complement the disk-image tag and I named it tape-image.
My thinking at the time was that there were plenty of game and software emulator files for systems that ...
ChenmunkaMod
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On asking about designing hardware for a new retro system
I've been thinking recently about the technical feasability of somebody making a new retrocomputing platform aimed at hobbyists.
Specifically I've been wondering if it would be possible to design a ...
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Should we have tags for the various decades?
Should 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, etc. have their own tags? Personally I'm undecided but leaning towards no since things don't always break down cleanly by decade. What do y'all think?
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Are x86 programming questions on-topic?
Do questions like these belong on Retrocomputing?
How to write directly to video memory in MS-DOS?
Why the "jmp" instruction is not working?
It looks to me like questions like this should ...
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Where, exactly, are the jurisdictional boundaries between Retrocomputing and the other computer-related Stack Exchanges (such as Super User)?
Both Retrocomputing and Super User deal with questions about the use and abuse of computers; Retrocomputing deals with questions involving “old” hardware or software, while Super User’s focus is on ...
wizzwizz4Mod
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Rename tag "mechanical" to "mechanical-computing"
The tag mechanical is not entirely obvious. I suggest we rename it to mechanical-computing.
One of the reasons for my suggested replacement is to use terminology more consistent with the world ...
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2019: a year in moderation
It's New Year's Day in Stack Exchange land...
A distinguishing characteristic of these sites is how they are moderated:
We designed the Stack Exchange network engine to be mostly self-regulating, ...
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Are questions about mechancial calculators & -computer, sliderules etc. on-topic?
It seems that questions about electronic calculators are on topic - but in the linked answer another questions is raised: What about mechanical calculators?
I'd like to extend this question: Are ...
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Is a new "retro" design in scope of this group?
I am following a project called the Commander X 16, a Commodore 64 inspired machine based on, but only somewhat compatible with it.
My question: Is such a retro inspired development in scope of this ...
CommunityBot
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Are questions about bugs in retro games on topic?
This question is sparked by the following three questions:
Why does the Minus World exist?
Why do parallel universes exist in Super Mario 64?
What is the cause of Trent's circuit board strategy?
All ...
CommunityBot
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Should tags only apply to on-topic aspects of a question?
There is a suggested edit to apply the windows tag to Formatting a 720K floppy disk over USB fails with Windows 10. Windows 10 isn't on-topic, but it is Windows…
Should we apply tags about non-retro ...
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Change rule preventing "[q]uestions about earlier versions of a current machine or OS"?
To quote our help centre:
Questions about modern, currently supported computers are off-topic. This includes questions about earlier versions of a current machine or OS.
If interpreted strictly ...
CommunityBot
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Should we rename the [game-cartridge] tag?
Currently the only tag we have related to cartridges containing software in ROM is game-cartridge, with the following description:
For questions related to cartridge-based games and applications
and ...
CommunityBot
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Am I able to ask questions about retro computing yet? [closed]
It seems that this part of the stack exchange still isn't fit for purpose.
Okay so there may be an exaggeration somewhere in there, but I think there is still a lot of truth in there.
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What tag for Kyotronic 85 / TRS-80 Model 100 / Olivetti M10 / NEC PC-8300?
We currently have five questions about the TRS-80 Model 100, four of which are tagged trs-80. That tag lumps them in with a large number of questions for unrelated (except for the nameplate) and very ...
CommunityBot
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We have got a blog!
The Retrocomputing Blog is now live! Thanks to our volunteer bloggers for committing to the blog and Automattic Inc. for hosting it, we have been able to launch our very own blog!
We have some ...
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Should we clean up/orthogonalize the microprocessor/architecture/CPU tags?
Our tags for various CPU families and architectures are a bit of a mess right now because we're using a lot of different conventions for them:
Just the number: 6502, 65816, 6809, 8080, z80.
...
wizzwizz4Mod
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We're Getting There!
Just wanted to call out the fact that our Area51 stats are moving in the right direction, with only our question rate remaining the sticky part:
What I find particularly interesting about this site ...
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Proposed naming scheme for Tandy computer related tags
Preface
Our tagging scheme for tags relating to Tandy computers is incomplete and inconsistent. Yesterday I started the discussion thread, New [trs-80] tag conundrum . An earlier thread exists for ...
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Manufacturer tags
I just posted this question:
How can I open an IBM G50 CRT monitor?
and tagged it with IBM, as personally I think there may be people out there who have expertise with particular brands and may want ...
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Should edits that only add links to Wikipedia be allowed?
Edits such as this have received both accept and reject votes. What's our consensus on such edits?
CommunityBot
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BASIC tags: Dialect or Machine?
This question is tagged with atari-basic, but is actually about different dialects of basic on an atari machine.
My understanding was that the foo-basic tags were for different dialects, and the ...
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"Any question is a good one for 48 hours."
Could we make it a rule that any question asked in good faith will be allowed to stay open for at least 48 hours? This would give honest retrocomputing-related questions that don't adhere to Stack ...
wizzwizz4Mod
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Shouldn't the Title of a Question Be Handled as Such or Rather Not?
We already had the question about titles to be questions in itself. This is somewhat related, as it's about titles to be titles - or with less words:
Should titles be written in title case or ...
CommunityBot
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Are we encouranging answering duplicate questions?
I'm referring to Why is the Intel 8086 CPU called a 16-bit CPU?, which is being on HNQ now, just one month since Why was the Sega Genesis marketed as a 16-bit console?, which I see as essentially the ...
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Are list questions OK again?
So the mother of all list-questions was just posted: What LISP compilers and interpreters were available for 8-bit machines?
Not only explicitly asking for a list, but with the extra twist of asking ...
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Do we want list questions?
We have had a few questions recently that have been somewhat broad, essentially asking for a list. Two in particular:
What early home computers have more than one CPU, where both could be used by the ...
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Is asking for an article from an old computing periodical on-topic?
As a case in point, I am looking for an article from an issue of PCW from 1982 (but I don't know which month) which related to generating mazes/dungeons using pseudo random seeds, what I think are ...
wizzwizz4Mod
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Found answer to unanswered closed question
I've found an answer to a question that was closed as being off-topic. Since new answers aren't possible I left a comment on that question stating what I'd found. To see the comment though you'd ...
CommunityBot
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Should all titles be in the form of questions?
The title field, by convention, indicates the question being asked. The body field may also contain questions, or elucidation on the question.
However, many questions have titles that are not ...
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What should go into /help/on-topic?
I've been dragging my feet on this as much as the rest of us, but we really need to get around to writing our Help Center articles. I last asked about this over a year ago, and whilst there were some ...
wizzwizz4Mod
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Are technical (not gameplay) questions about retro games consoles still on-topic?
I thought that this was clear-cut, as outlined in the answers to Are retro gaming consoles on-topic?, but Why can't special controllers or accessories be used with Super FX games? has gathered ...
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Are questions about historical web APIs on topic?
After rene suggested our site for "historical curiosity" questions on Meta Stack Overflow's It's time to bury [digg], I started wondering whether Digg's API would be on-topic for Retrocomputing.
No, ...
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How to handle a title edit (change) made to make the question fit a specific answer?
(Preface, this is not mainly about the question in question (sic) - or its editor, but the general handling of such changes. The question change initiating this is just a great example for the issue ...
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What is the policy on questions depending on links to third party sites?
When somebody asks a question which needs a picture illustration, there is an easy mechanism for SE to copy the picture to imgur when embedding it.
Not so with videos; when a question, like this one ...
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Lately some questions have asked about things which didn't actually happen
Here on Retrocomputing.SE we've lately had more than a few questions (including some of my own) about
Hey what about this idea, did that ever happen?
What if instead of doing it this way, they had ...
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2018: a year in moderation
It's New Year's Day in Stack Exchange land...
A distinguishing characteristic of these sites is how they are moderated:
We designed the Stack Exchange network engine to be mostly self-regulating, in ...
CommunityBot
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On the use of comments
According to the comment box:
Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid answering questions in comments.
Comments are for:
Asking for more information about a ...
wizzwizz4Mod
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Unsung Heroes of RC.SE
This is not realy a meta question and I wouldn't mind if it get deleted in a few days. I just have the urge to ventilate this again:
Thanks to all the editors easing the way I mangle the English ...
CommunityBot
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Moving out of beta?
It may be a good idea to refine the site, as I'm kind of unsure of the policy decisions you've made here (in meta),
Consider filling out these two FAQ's (which is pretty routine on SE),
https://...
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Are questions about building new hardware, restricted to a specific era technology on topic?
I asked this question:
Smallest/Simplest, modern pure relay computer with at least 4-bits data words
and found that it may be considered off topic in Retrocomputing. Another user advised me to ask ...
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New Tag: [tag:Identify-This]
I just posted a question to identify a feature of an Exidy Sorcerer's case I can't explain. Categorizing that kind of question seems hard, as it's not a computer or game to be identified, but a ...
CommunityBot
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Tag request: product-key
Because a product key or a Certificate of Authenticity was more common with old operating systems or software, the tag product-key would be a good key to add. The excerpt it could have:
A product ...
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