There's no denying that BASIC is an important part of the Model T's overall system but its operating system? It is indeed closely tied to the Model T 'kernel' but is nevertheless just another program in ROM.
No. the MENU is not the OS; it is the GUI interface to the OS, whatever name you want to give that. Except for 'KILL' most of what you mention is specific to BASIC; LOAD and SAVE for example are part of every BASIC and specifically only load BASIC program files; if you're using your Model T for writing, communication, scheduling etc. you will never need those functions. Try LOADing a text file from BASIC. Autostart only (re)starts a BASIC program AFAIK. DATE$ and TIME$ are defined BASIC variables so that's where they are set and used. Granted, deleting and renaming files as well as loading machine language files are done through BASIC, which is why I would consider it a programming language and a limited file handler. The point is that, unlike a Commodore system where you cannot do anything without going through BASIC, you could just create a couple of small machine language programs to KILL files, set the time and load .CO files, and completely dispense with the BASIC interpreter. Everything else needed to load, save, print and edit text files, download and upload files from outside, maintain your schedule and address book etc. and run any M/L programs that did not use any BASIC routines would all still function as before. A curiosity question: how do other languages, e.g. FORTH, get loaded and run? m On Thu, Oct 6, 2022 at 3:12 PM Jerry Stratton <model...@hoboes.com> wrote: > On Oct 6, 2022, at 11:57 AM, Mike Stein <mhs.st...@gmail.com> 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 > >
