[Cuis-dev] VectorEnginePlugin: parts in motion

[Juan Vuletich]

On 8/8/2021 3:29 PM, Douglas Brebner via Cuis-dev wrote:
> On 08/08/2021 16:06, ken.dickey--- via Cuis-dev wrote:
>> I like simplicity and think about "value added".  Where can I add value?
>>
>> Doing device drivers, setting up page tables, interrupt code, writing 
>> file systems and network drivers and testing them et cetera is _not_ 
>> where my interests and abilities reside.
>>
>> So why not use a minimalist Linux "OS shim".  Like using Git. 
>> Leverage other people's work and do fun things in Smalltalk!
>>
>> As Smalltalk pre-dated _other_ window systems, there is a FrameBuffer 
>> display option, vm-display-fbdev.
>>
>> So one can use a minimalist Linux, like Alpine Linux, which uses 
>> BusyBox for basic utilities and MUSL in place of libc.  It was made 
>> to be a clean & secure router solution.  You can also "startxfce4" if 
>> you install XFCE, but it boots into a console. Armbian Linux in 
>> another good, reliable solution for SBCs.
>>
>> I will write something up in the wiki after my latest fix gets released.
>>
>> Basically, one used command line arguments or shell variables to set 
>> up for mouse/keyboard/framebuffer and things just work.
>
> Interesting. I have a couple of ancient netbooks which may make nice 
> Cuis Machines.
>
> (They have the horrible GMA500 GPUs which make them not very good for 
> almost anything else.)
>

I still have and use quite  bit this 
https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/laptops/49484/dell-inspiron-mini-1012-review 
, with 2GB of RAM and 1024x600 Display. It still works great and is my 
preferred machine for slow, and low resolution display testing. I also 
use it for vacation trips (when I don't want to risk a modern and 
expensive laptop). Today I used it for testing Cuis Vector Graphics. 
With the VM plugin it is usable, and I just zoomed out a couple of 
browsers and the transcript, to prepare 2 changesets. Then I pushed them 
to GitHub. On vacations, I used it to code Cuis stuff for a couple of 
hours per day during a week or two.

Cheers,

-- 
Juan Vuletich
www.cuis-smalltalk.org
https://github.com/Cuis-Smalltalk/Cuis-Smalltalk-Dev
https://github.com/jvuletich
https://www.linkedin.com/in/juan-vuletich-75611b3
@JuanVuletich