Commander X16 Computer System Emulator
 

I am a subscriber to the 8-Bit Guy's YouTube channel, and a big project of his over the last few years has been the Commander X16, a re-imagining of the Commodore 64; more specifically, he has a vision of beginners new to programming be able to program easily because of the 8-bit user interface (See here for the complete rundown of all things that are happening in the Commander X16 community).

The reason I think this is applicable to Slackware is because of its similarity in purpose to the vice emulator, and because it is relatively unknown to the wider world, I would, as a passionate believer in David's project, like to be a key player in introducing its emulator to the Slackware community.

This came about because back in 2023, David talked about pre-orders, and he urged everybody interested in purchasing the development board (quite a nice and tidy design, if I do say so myself!) to get their pre-orders in soon. At that time, I had done just that; I had even set aside the necessary funds for when the projected release of the Commander X16 would occur, specifically February 29, 2024. However, due to subsequent financial constraints, I had to re-allocate the funds to other bills, and therefore had to cancel my pre-order, much to my chagrin! As a consolation prize to myself, I purchased an inexpensive 11" Thinkpad off eBay for quite a good price (~$70). It has an anemic Intel Atom processor, but it is quite sufficient to run the X16 emulator.

I have taken the liberty of downloading the emulator off the github website, and creating a SlackBuild for it, using a derivative of the armcord SlackBuild I maintain on SBo.

If anyone is interested in playing around with the X16 emulator, I have the files ready for upload to SBo. Thanks!

NOTE: After thinking about it overnight, I have decided to take the liberty of uploading the files to SBo. If you are so inclined, please try it out and let me know what you think of it. Thanks!

Happy Slacking! :hattip:

Matt

I've also been following progress of the X16 so interested in the emulator.

Where/how have you uploaded/submitted to SBo? I don't see anything related in the pending or ready queues.

chris

chris.willing: Thanks for replying, I was beginning to think I'd never get a response; apparently, this kind of thing isn't very popular with Slackware users.

As for uploading to SBo, I had uploaded it the day of the edit of the post (e.g., the morning after the original post), and funnily enough, I don't now remember receiving a confirmation email for my original upload. I resubmitted my upload to SBo, and was supposed to have gotten an confirmation email, but still have not received one. Very strange. I also didn't get any kind of email from the mods about any kind of problem (I thoroughly searched my mail archives, to no avail). So, I don't know what happened to my original upload or the one I just did (02/31/24, 00:30). If it doesn't show up soon, I'll contact one of the mods to see what's become of it. Thanks for calling my attention to this matter. I had assumed it had taken and was just taking awhile to process. Unfortunately it has not, and is not even been shown to have been received. Thanks again!

Matt

NOTE: The Commander X16 Computer System Emulator has been added to SBo; for those interested in retro programming, or just want to help in developing an as-yet nascent community blossom into something that can benefit everyone, it is available.