This is an introduction for my project, IRATA.ONLINE, to the vintage computing community:
Hello, I'm Thom Cherryhomes, systems operator for IRATA.ONLINE, a unique on-line service for retro-computing enthusiasts.
The main website is here:
http://www.irata.online/
It's based on PLATO, a legendary graphical time-sharing system with touch screen functionality that ran in its classic incarnation from 1962, until NovaNET shut down its last instance in 2015.
More info about it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system)
As you can see there, PLATO was home to a huge number of innovations, many of which are overlooked in the greater history of computing.
I have taken a complete working PLATO installation, installed it within a supercomputer emulator (the computer being emulated, is a Control Data Cyber 170/865, which is a 60-bit supercomputer from the late 1970s), and have been tailoring it specifically for the retro-computing community.
To this end, I have also taken a terminal that I've written, called PLATOTerm, and have been steadily porting to every single available retro-computing platform that is at least capable of displaying bitmapped graphics 256 pixels across by 192 pixels vertical, and the net result is that clients are ready for, or are almost ready for the following systems:
* Atari 8-bit
* Commodore 64
* Commodore 128
* Apple ][
* TI 99/4A
* Sinclair ZX Spectrum (loadable directly from Spectranet!)
* Amstrad CPC464
* Atari ST
* TRS-80 Color Computer 3 (Thanks to Brett Gordon of FUZIX fame)
* FUZIX (Thanks to Alan Cox of Linux fame)
* Spectravideo SV-3x8
* MicroBee
* MSX
* Memotech MTX-512
* Tatung Einstein
And even more coming:
* Amiga
* IBM 5150 PC and PCjr
* TRS-80 Color Computer 2
* Anything that runs FUZIX (countless machines, Alan Cox of Linux fame is doing this port)
* Thomson MO5/TO7
There is also a port to WebAssembly, which will be the core for not only web users, but also Android and IOS devices, as well.
---- Why am I doing this?
It is my hope, that I can provide the space in which a community of many different retro-computing users can grow, all fo us communicating together, and since the system has its own built in programming language that is accessible to all users, it is my hope that we all can enjoy making new content, together.
