On Oct 6, 2022, at 11:57 AM, Mike Stein <[email protected]> wrote: > As I said elsewhere that point of view certainly applies to systems like > Commodore where everything including loading other programs is done through > BASIC, the system prompt is actually a BASIC command prompt > > IMO the Model T is uniquely different in fundamental ways; the 'system > prompt' is the MENU and you can certainly load and run TELCOM, TEXT, etc. and > most machine language programs without ever invoking BASIC at all.
This would imply, though, that as soon as you write a file manager for a system and make it autostart, BASIC stops being the system’s OS. But even further, the MENU system, at least on the Model 100, has very limited system control. You can’t even delete a file through the MENU. If you want to set up an autostart program, that’s a BASIC function. Setting the DATE and TIME must be handled in BASIC. BASIC on the Model T arguably is even more of an operating system than BASIC on the Commodore. As far as I know, BASIC on the Commodore cannot shut the machine down (POWER OFF). Loading new programs from external storage (and saving old ones) is all handled through BASIC; if you look in Tandy’s Quick Reference for the Model 100, it doesn’t say that typing “LOAD" is the equivalent of choosing F2 when in BASIC. It says that choosing F2 is the equivalent of typing “LOAD”. (Literally so.) The same for F1, F3, F4, F5, and F8. It’s certainly possible to argue that the MENU system on the Model T is a very rudimentary operating system akin to those on modern mobile devices; I’ve done so myself. But BASIC definitely remains “the” operating system. On the Model 100 especially, no one could operate their device without regularly going into BASIC to clear out files, correct the time, set the power timer, and so on. Jerry Stratton https://hoboes.com/coco/ “We invented machinery to save and surpass our bodies’ labour; now we have invented computers to save and surpass the labour of our minds.”—Peter Laurie, The Joy of Computers
