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Galaksija: The Soviet-Era, Z80-based microcomputer

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Re: Galaksija: The Soviet-Era, Z80-based microcomputer

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"People's democracy" is actually the regime when there's a single ruling party system but it calls itself democratic because it is comprised of, you know, the people . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_democracy_(Marxism–... As opposed to regular plain old democracy.

It is literally in the first paragraph of the Wikipedia article: People's democracy is a theoretical concept within Marxism–Leninism and a form of government which developed after World War II and allows in theory for a multi-class and multi-party democracy on the pathway to socialism.

Incidentally,

The German Democratic Republic had a plural multi-party system. The largest by members and parliament seats were the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), followed by Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD).

(The was also National-Democratic Party [1].)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Democratic_Party_of_G...

Re: Galaksija: The Soviet-Era, Z80-based microcomputer

#72

"Uninspired" is a little unfair – the Soviet Union took the PDP-11 architecture to strange new heights, once they had integrated it into a small 40-pin DIP package, and then later QFP: home computers with surprisingly good demoscene capabilities [1], little engineer's calculators with full QWERTY keyboards that ran BASIC programs [2], etc. DEC: when you care enough to steal the very best. [1] the UKNC, with two LSI-1…

Funnily enough, the 1801 microprocessor [1] wasn't stolen from DEC. Or rather, the instruction set was the only thing stolen. The 1801 was a new Soviet design originally with its own instruction set. It was later adapted to the PDP-11, probably because of the popularity of the PDP-11 and its software in the USSR. DEC never manufactured anything like the 1801, targeted more as a microcontroller than as a microprocessor. (Soviet military and aviation industries were the original intended use.)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1801_series_CPU

Re: Galaksija: The Soviet-Era, Z80-based microcomputer

#73
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Way more for sure, it was akin to a Cambrian explosion. One large downside was compatibility though - at best you could hope for two machines to be CP/M compatible, otherwise if you needed an app you could've written it yourself or hoped that someone else would do it.

Cambridgian explosion, you mean?

[deleted]

Re: Galaksija: The Soviet-Era, Z80-based microcomputer

#74
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but at least to me "Soviet era" is associated with the Soviet Union. As someone who grew up in Eastern Germany I would actually have expected that it is about a computer produced in the Soviet Union when reading "Soviet-era computer" (despite popular belief, not everything east of the iron curtain was part of the Soviet Union, countries had varying degrees of independence, even though the Soviet influence ran d…

Indeed: https://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/harry-truman-requests... "The United States then began inching closer to Tito, supporting his regime rhetorically, economically and, finally, militarily, in order to ensure that Yugoslavia would remain out of the Soviet orbit. Throughout the Cold War, American officials saw in Tito a useful example of a communist leader who was not under the Kremlin’s thumb." ... "With c…

Soviet

> A communist.

Yugoslav

> An unfaithful communist.

These good relations with USA did real good when their country was obliterated to shreds when it was no longer needed. Sigh.

Re: Galaksija: The Soviet-Era, Z80-based microcomputer

#75
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed: https://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/harry-truman-requests... "The United States then began inching closer to Tito, supporting his regime rhetorically, economically and, finally, militarily, in order to ensure that Yugoslavia would remain out of the Soviet orbit. Throughout the Cold War, American officials saw in Tito a useful example of a communist leader who was not under the Kremlin’s thumb." ... "With c…

Soviet > A communist. Yugoslav > An unfaithful communist. These good relations with USA did real good when their country was obliterated to shreds when it was no longer needed. Sigh.

> These good relations with USA did real good when their country was obliterated to shreds when it was no longer needed.

The US had these teachers:

"We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow."

https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/978019...

Always new counties which have to experience that.

Re: Galaksija: The Soviet-Era, Z80-based microcomputer

#76
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was called iron curtain, not iron wall. Yugoslavia was in between the west and the east back then. We were not under USSR control. We could hop on a plane and fly to London any time we pleased, unlike for example, Hungarians or east Germans.

Interesting. I stand corrected, then.

Thank you!

Re: Galaksija: The Soviet-Era, Z80-based microcomputer

#77

I can't imagine how slow it is without a graphics chip

Many early 8-bit computers didn't have a graphics chip, including the Apple II and the Commodore PET 2001. The first real GPU was the ANTIC in the Atari 400/800.

The C64 had a VICII.

Re: Galaksija: The Soviet-Era, Z80-based microcomputer

#78
post #25
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything East of the Iron Wall (German Divide) was under USSR control.

Yeah, it was so much under control that Yugoslavia and the USSR were at brink of war. It's more under Russian influence today than then.

> It's more under Russian influence today than then.

Yugoslavia no longer exists.

While Serbia may be -- I've been there twice and it's a rather scary country -- the other fragments of Yugoslavia are far less so. Bosnia has a distinct Ottoman influence, while Croatia and Slovenia are very Western Europeanised indeed.

I haven't been to Montenegro yet, but had the best beer I tasted in Bosnia was Montenegrin (as opposed to the awful Jelen).

So, no: only one of its fragments, I think.

Re: Galaksija: The Soviet-Era, Z80-based microcomputer

#79
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many early 8-bit computers didn't have a graphics chip, including the Apple II and the Commodore PET 2001. The first real GPU was the ANTIC in the Atari 400/800.

The C64 had a VICII.

Yes, but it's not a GPU. The ANTIC is a processor as it has instructions. The VIC-II is a Video Interface Controller, thus the name.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_home_computers_by_vide...

Re: Galaksija: The Soviet-Era, Z80-based microcomputer

#80
post #78
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it was so much under control that Yugoslavia and the USSR were at brink of war. It's more under Russian influence today than then.

> It's more under Russian influence today than then. Yugoslavia no longer exists. While Serbia may be -- I've been there twice and it's a rather scary country -- the other fragments of Yugoslavia are far less so. Bosnia has a distinct Ottoman influence, while Croatia and Slovenia are very Western Europeanised indeed. I haven't been to Montenegro yet, but had the best beer I tasted in Bosnia was Montenegrin (as oppose…

Of course, I meant Serbia since Galaksija comes from today's Serbia as well as it's creator, a very prominent man today.

What was scary in Serbia? And I agree, Jelen is bottom of the barrel. Only worse than thet would be private store brands, and you might even find better than Jelen among them.

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