Amin Dost

Cishet white male. Offspring of immigrants. Free software and self-hosting advocate. Socialist. Anticapitalist. European. I acknowledge the incongruence of this list!

Right now I'm enjoying retrocomputing projects on an eight-bit Atari 800 and 130XE, a sixteen-bit Atari 520STFM and a 32-bit 1996 IBM Thinkpad.

I'm interested in operating systems, application and utility software, the claims made about the future we were promised with these machines, and the present we've ended up with.

No avatar, no bio?: Sorry, but I won't approve your follow request.
No image alt text?: Sorry, no boost, no like.
AI?: https://aidirtylist.info/
https://noai.starlightnet.work/list.html
https://codeberg.org/small-hack/open-slopware
https://isaiprofitable.com/
https://eobet.com/fun/llms/
OnlyToots: Amin Dost (npub1v24…3nyt)">https://justmytoots.com/Amin Dost (npub1v24…3nyt)

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npub1v24u0lwr960qsu83hnwct4l5hldfxsceske5qwujr65dxwnrqtms2x3nyt

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[email protected]

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nprofile1qqsx9278lhpja8sgwrcmehv96l6tlk5ngvvctv6q8wfpa2xn8f3s9acpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnwv46qz9rhwden5te0wfjkccte9ejxzmt4wvhxjmcwmm48v

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relay.nostr.net

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

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npub1v24u0lwr960qsu83hnwct4l5hldfxsceske5qwujr65dxwnrqtms2x3nyt

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Published at

2026-08-29T04:05:13Z

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Last Notes

2026-08-13 16:10:28 UTC

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that wasn't so much a thing in my part of the world, where local calls weren't free. Most people who got into computing in the early 1980s only got connected to some sort of network when they went to university.

2026-08-13 15:23:09 UTC

Recovering this trove of old computer documentation and learning resources is really a strange experience. It's bringing me back into that mindset.
In the collection are photocopies of the first six parts of an eight-part series on learning how to program Z80 machine code.
They were published between - get this - December 1985 and August 1987 in the quarterly Maplin Magazine. That's a span of 21 months between the first part and the last.
Plenty of time to practice what you were learning! Good luck having your questions answered or your misunderstandings and frustrations addressed in the intervening months! This way of learning is so foreign and remote from how we learn today.
Learning's never been easy; we pretend it's easier now, with access to endless resources, but it realy isn't. We still have to put in the hard and sometimes frustrating work of engaging deeply with the material and practicing, practicing, practicing.
Part 1: https://archive.org/details/maplin-magazine-198512198602-n-017/page/57/mode/2up
Part 2: https://archive.org/details/maplin-magazine-19860305-n-018/page/n37/mode/2up
Part 3: https://archive.org/details/maplin-magazine-19860608-n-019/page/43/mode/2up
Part 4: https://archive.org/details/maplin-magazine-19860911-n-020/page/n51/mode/2up
Part 5: https://archive.org/details/maplin-magazine-198612198702-n-021/page/15/mode/2up
Part 6: https://archive.org/details/maplin-magazine-19870305-n-022/page/n39/mode/2up
Part 7: https://archive.org/details/maplin-magazine-19870608-n-023/page/41/mode/2up
Part 8: https://archive.org/details/maplin-magazine-19870911-n-024/page/23/mode/2up
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/117/088/855/285/119/881/original/69434bce51a1e7cc.jpeg

2026-08-11 15:06:05 UTC

#Amstrad #Retrocomputing experts: can any of you tell me what I'm looking at here?
Specifically, what's the bizarre reference to "john disc filename fred" at the top of the document?
I found this sheet among a trove of photocopied Amstrad software documentation that appears to have been used by a Cork (Ireland)-based business during the mid 1980s.
(I'm an Atari aficionado, so not *au fait* with Amstrad idioms.)
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/117/077/459/118/442/262/original/0c655f20bf37233e.jpg

2026-08-10 14:12:18 UTC

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Butlerian Jihad? We haven't even got started yet.
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/117/071/611/727/170/155/original/e05f849581f84c12.png

2026-08-06 13:25:56 UTC

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dunno yet! The cycle is soon to complete, then I'll let it dry out for several days.

2026-08-06 12:14:07 UTC

Working on the presumption that the barely-working keyboard I pulled from the Inspiron 2650 was subjected to a spill of some sort a decade and a half ago, it'll be getting a spin in the dishwasher.
The €1 replacement works perfectly, so this is a low-stakes test to see firsthand if dishwashering is a viable way to clean filthy keyboards.
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/117/048/499/573/060/413/original/6baf48ff8079bed4.jpg

2026-07-20 09:29:03 UTC

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hi! Sure! Thank you for your interest on that. Yes, these words do mean something. I too am interested in language, and specifically words used in many languages. I see people on here playing with their handles all the time, so I'm doing the same.
Without doxxing myself, my given name is an old Semitic name which I happen to share with the perpetrator of an ongoing genocide. I don't want to be associated with that psychopath, so I've adopted the part of that name which is more common in the Islamic world in solidarity with those upon whom the genocide is being perpetrated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amin_(name)
Girasol is a word for sunflower, a compound of the words for "turn" and "sun" in Spanish. I think it's cute! There's a character in Tintin whose name in the original French is Tournesol.
Dost is the word for 'friend' in Persian, Turkish, Hindi and Urdu. Again a signal of solidarity.

2026-07-08 01:03:04 UTC

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coming back to this: the brilliant coders I've known did read other people's code, effortlessly.
I think it is genuinely a question of literacy. Low levels of code literacy are acceptable in the industry. The incentives in recruitment push programmers to demonstrate they can leet code, not that they can quickly read and understand code, including nuance and subtext. (Yes, of course code has subtext.)

2026-07-05 22:39:24 UTC

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no need to apologise. I read it before any of what you mention was evident.
In any case, what I was struck by on reading the book was how most of these 'luminaries' admitted they don't read other people's code.

2026-07-05 19:39:21 UTC

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"Coders at Work" is a worthwhile read in this context.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coders_at_Work

2026-06-16 10:15:17 UTC

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that you for articulating that this "sovereignty" label is really a cover for a retreat into nationalism. Even terms like "sovereign European software" makes me deeply unconformable. Look how European leaders are upping the violent anti-immigration rhetoric and sabre-rattling against Russia. Europe is not going in a better direction than the US.
Any talk of worker solidarity between users and developers is being drowned by this new jingoistic framing.
https://nextcloud.com/summit/
https://gaelduval.com/joining-the-wave-murena-e-os-2026-roadmap/

2026-06-11 13:00:50 UTC

Some further musings on https://oldbytes.space/@fluidlogic/116728016460487643<li><em>So</em> much fear of failure. (Where on earth does that come from?) What is working for me to overcome this is choosing low-stakes mini-projects and going in feeling prepared. It still takes resoluteness to push on through and not abandon the work. I tell myself that learning involves discomfort. That every mini-project is a chance to learn and grow. I don't manage to convince myself much of the time.</li><li>For electronic repair, having the right tools (not necessarily the best tools) is essential. For example, I needed a jeweller's pliers to unplug the corroded connector. That gave me a firm grip which allowed controlled and gentle extraction, which wasn't possible with fingernails. (I tried.)</li><li>I'm surprised at how much I've learned ambiently by watching autodidact electronic repair folks on video streaming platforms.</li><li>Relatedly, the people who are clear about what they don't know, and who are humble, are the best teachers.</li><li>You can never have too much light on the object of your attention.</li><li>Different levels of magnification help. I have a 3x magnifier with a ring light on an anglepoise arm, but this time I tried a pair of my partner's €2 reading glasses, despite being naturally shortsighted. They made a huge difference!</li><li>You don't need to know much, but (I think) to be successful you need to have an idea of what you don't know. I couldn't have been successful at this a year and a half ago when I first got this laptop, because I didn't know then that I needed to neutralise and remove the battery juice, or how to do that practically. Watching a YouTuber scrub enthusiastically at something extremely delicate as they talk through their approach does help instill confidence.</li><li>I need time to work at my own pace, which is veeeeery slooooowly. I don't have a project space for electronic repair, so the kitchen table becomes my workspace. This only worked today because we skipped dinner. (My partner was also engrossed in something and our housemate was out late.)</li><li>The job's not done. The LCD panel isn't displaying correctly, so I'll need to go in again. It's probably a connector not seated correctly, or I didn't let the connector dry and now I've fucked it permanently. By going in again, I risk breaking something else. The more success I have, the higher the stakes of subsequent failure feel. To gain perspective, I have to tell myself that this is one project of many on a long journey.</li><li>I'm glad that it's become socially acceptable to talk about interior struggles like this. Thank you for reading.</li>

2026-06-10 21:49:40 UTC

I had a very satisfying day repairing backup battery damage to the keyboard controller in my beloved 1996 IBM Thinkpad 760CD.
I'd recently watched @npub1yex…0chl 's thorough and detailed A3000T battery-bomb damage recovery videos. A seven year old video series by @npub1hj4…ahkz showed me what I needed to do to safely remove the 760CD keyboard and wrist rest in order to access the compromised batteries and keyboard controller. Thank you both!
I had a backup battery ready to go (bought in 2024!) and now armed with the right tools, just enough knowledge and a resoluteness to attempt the repair, I carefully pulled out the backup batteries and keyboard controller board. I scrubbed the controller board in distilled malt vinegar (and enjoyed the sizzling sounds coming from the board!) then washed it in distilled water, and finally evacuated all the water with 99% isopropyl alcohol.
I cleaned the keyboard edge connector too, and despite it looking rougher than its neighbour, confirmed that the traces were good by beeping each one out along its length.
Reassembling was a bit of a jigsaw, but these old Thinkpads are designed for repairability, so with some careful but firm manipulation, I was able to get everything back together.
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/727/971/201/047/526/original/afd771f633f78778.jpeg
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/727/993/712/943/804/original/8a966e3178fe729b.jpeg
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2026-05-20 20:45:10 UTC

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none of the author names are jumping out at me; are any of them known to you?

2026-05-20 19:49:25 UTC

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superb! It'd be great to see that.
Can you share a snap of the table of contents?

2026-05-20 19:31:34 UTC

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gorgeous cover! Those applications are slightly broader in scope than a 1990s 'application' or a 2020s 'app'!
A desultory quack didn't turn up a scan of the book. Would you consider doing that?

2026-04-30 12:17:51 UTC

My local hacker space, @npub1vtv…l0pj, has published a terrific blog post about the process of bringing an Eastern European computer terminal back from the dead:
A Green Glow from the Eastern Bloc: Bringing a Mera CM 7209 Back to Life
https://www.tog.ie/2026/04/a-green-glow-from-the-eastern-bloc-bringing-a-mera-cm-7209-back-to-life/
(I really need to start visiting more regularly. I'm not a member yet.)
#retrocomputing #vintagecomputing
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/493/589/750/168/941/original/6fdac9e438db92ed.jpg
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/493/589/757/319/919/original/77ae93b7ad54bc73.jpg

2026-04-12 22:21:57 UTC

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this is why I'm barely even lukewarm about Revive Machines' Atari 800XL remake.

2026-03-29 09:08:01 UTC

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also reject age verification: https://mxlinux.org/blog/mx-news-week-ending-march-28-2026/
> On Age Verification: There are those that think we need to make a position known on age verification. So here you go: While we wait on court challenges and to see if and how these laws apply to non-commercial open source operating systems and applications, let me assure users that no one on the team at MX wants to implement something like age verification. California’s law, which is what most people are upset about at the moment, isn’t even really age verification, but self-reporting. There is no external validation or even identification required, and not even really an actual age, but age ranges. Other states and countries may be more of a problem, with some (including California) placing burdens on repository infrastructure and raising questions as to whether repositories qualify as “stores” under these laws. These are real questions, and it really is wise to see if these laws survive court challenges.
> An increasing number of states and countries appear inclined to adopt these types of ill-advised regulations. While certain jurisdictions might be circumvented by Linux distribution, whether through geoblocking, the inclusion of legal disclaimers or by disregarding laws beyond their operating jurisdiction, such approaches ultimately risk diminishing the free and widespread availability of Linux , so my suggestion for those in the US, and other countries, is to lobby your government representatives, federal, state, or whatever your country has, and not your linux distro.
> I guarantee no distro wants to enable such things.

2026-03-15 14:30:11 UTC

Stunning Dell Dimension XPS for sale in Limerick, Ireland.
Not my ad; I wanted to share a gorgeous bit of kit for folks to enjoy.
I'm not in the market for kit like this, so I'm not keeping track of prices. The seller might accept €400. That doesn't seem unreasonable.
What do you think?
(Again, I've no skin in the game here. I'm neither selling nor planning to buy this machine.)
https://touch.adverts.ie/desktops/dell-dimension-xps-t800r/39711162
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/233/617/911/723/172/original/cdb7be4892febde9.jpg

2026-02-26 12:07:59 UTC

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another data point from Europe, in an Anglophone country. I'm not in academia, but business. I speak more than one language.
In a business setting the response by monoglot Anglophone colleagues (to other colleagues conversing in a non-English language) tends to be mixed. I think some monoglots feel they're missing out or that the non-English speakers have something to hide.
This tells you more about the political, intellectual and cultural world of the monoglot than it does about polyglots.
The non-English languages most often spoken here are Slavic, Latin, Dravidian, Indo-Aryan and Arabic.

2026-02-23 00:10:38 UTC

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thank you, that's exactly what I was looking for! The wiki describes interaction with a web-based editor, does it?
I find Open Street Map tooling and documentation mostly baffling, unfortunately.

2026-02-20 22:40:11 UTC

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where do I find out more about how to add the right metadata?

2026-02-20 11:55:29 UTC

Mohamed A. Hussein at Al Jazeera asks "Visualised as stacks of hundred dollar bills, what does the AI spending forecast for 2026 look like? And what does it look like compared to other mega-projects?"
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/19/visualising-ai-spending-how-does-it-compare-with-historys-mega-projects
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/102/765/539/554/924/original/091d8d3a8cbb4751.webp
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/102/765/854/053/028/original/5e559b9fbe8af532.webp

2026-02-07 00:55:34 UTC

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thank you for sharing that story. The PET is probably repairable for not much money!

2026-02-07 00:17:07 UTC

#retrocomputing folks: I'm trying to get a sense of the proportion of people here who are into retrocomputing today but didn't experience the machines when they first came on the market. I want everyone's input! Please boost!
(I'll ask the same question about minicomputers. This poll is about the early consumer home computers released between say 1977 and 1994.)

2026-01-16 12:34:42 UTC

Strange, isn't it, that your newsfeed isn't full of demands from businesses and consumers to fix the latency of generative AI chatbots, and stories about the crisis of access? ("I'm losing business because my prompt engineers can't get responses quick enough!")
Instead, the loudest voices are the big tech companies screaming that they need gigawatt-consuming data centres.
Can you spot the disconnect?
#supply_and_demand #fuckAI #ponzischeme

2026-01-12 15:31:10 UTC

Can someone remind me what type of connector this is? It's in my box of external and internal disk interface cables, but I'm not sure that's what it is.
It's probably fifteen years old. Perhaps more.
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/115/882/847/085/894/059/original/654a7b3b2d5eb4e0.jpg

2025-11-28 02:54:48 UTC

Like an idiot a few weeks back, I plugged an Atari 810 9V AC power supply into the back of my 2007 Tevion TV which takes 12V DC.
Recently, with guidance from an electronic engineer friend, we determined I'd blown a fuse and fried the backlight board.
I snipped out the fuse and temporarily bypassed it for testing purposes; my mate spotted a discoloured surface mount transistor on the backlight power board. A replacement was just €10. It arrived today and I popped it in. To my amazement, the TV is back to life. I'm delighted! Tomorrow I'll solder in a new fuse.
I'm only at the start of my journey in learning electronics, but having a mentor is priceless.
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/115/624/999/254/578/262/original/5b4b24ed0d0427c2.jpg
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/115/624/999/256/284/741/original/7ddfc5192a81fc97.jpg
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https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/115/624/999/271/021/415/original/4e6b5b6cf047d24b.jpg

2025-11-03 17:58:47 UTC

Some weeks ago on Mastodon I saw in passing the mention of the name of an author who apparently is working on a new book to be published as part of the MIT Platform Studies series, about the Atari 8 bits.
At the time I went looking for any hint on the author's website that such a book was in progress, then searched more widely, but could find nothing. And then I forgot the author's name.
Perhaps the fine person who namechecked the author on Mastodon is here, and can remind me? ...and perhaps mention how they're aware of this work?
(I know Joe Decuir is working on a book - this is not that book.)
Please boost for reach!
#MITPlatformStudies #Atari8bit

2025-10-31 12:40:41 UTC

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nay i ask, what was it about Fedora that made you want to seek something different?
(I have no link to Red Hat; I last used Fedora in 2001 and have used Ubuntu mostly since then, but they've given me the ick for some time so now I'm on Debian derivatives with alternative init systems and I'm much happier.)

2025-10-28 13:56:37 UTC

A heartwarming story and a call to action for self-hosters and users of independent services:
I just had a very pleasing interaction with a customer support person (Eddie) who works at a website that provides a service nationally in the small country where I live. The localness of the site is the point.
The site has recently put in place account blocking for scammers who put URLs in PMs that aren't on an allow list. As a user of a self-hosted Nextcloud, my account got blocked without warning when I shared a URL in a DM.
I contacted support, and Eddie replied to tell me I'd been blocked because of the URL in the PM, and that he'd restored my access.
I thanked him and asked him to pass on a message to the site's product managers. Here it is verbatim:
> I use your website because it's a local, independent website. I have largely rid myself of the giants of the web, like Microsoft, Facebook, Google and Amazon. (I won't elaborate here how problematic they are.) I want to see a decentralised web for the benefit of society - and that means using niche websites like yourselves, including self-hosted services. That means it's hard to build an "allow list" of (for example) permitted file or image hosting services, because instances like my Nextcloud server will automatically fall into the "suspicious" pile.
> I appreciate the work your website do to block scammers. But let's try to build protections that avoid the unwanted side effect of pushing people away from independent services.
Within minutes, I got a reply to say my Nextcloud instance had been added to the allow list! Bravo Eddie!
There's so much to unpick here: Because the site isn't a giant monolith, Eddie has the autonomy to edit the allow list; he's motivated to do it because he recognises he and I have common cause; and I was polite in my interactions with him, so he was prepared to take the time to read and absorb the case I was making.
#selfhosting #nextcloud #solidarity

2025-08-30 11:02:59 UTC

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thanks for sharing! PickOS had crossed my radar before, but knew nothing of it other than the name. This was illuminating.
Here's the "History of Pick" video referenced by Asianometry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ms0yvJAUAk
I love how the documentary firmly positions Pick among the key innovations of computing (as they were understood at the time this film was made).

2025-08-22 09:03:39 UTC

The wonderful @npub1t2q…n4vh doesn't have a layer for rail lines, or otherwise highlight rail lines at zoomed-out map resolutions.
However searching for "train station" or "railway station" gives you a good-enough approximation for planning an itinerary.
Check out, for example, in the second screenshot, the suspicious lack of lines between Serbia (in the lower left) and Romania. It turns out there are effectively no public transport links across the border between the two countries. (Foot, bicycle and car options exist.)
#interrail #exploringeurope #stayingfound #traintravel
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/115/071/522/927/330/205/original/ae50295eacb0d1ca.png
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2025-08-14 19:19:30 UTC

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Hi, I've got this update, thank you! It's an excellent upgrade.
Can you tell me what the colour coding and the solid or dashed lines mean for trails on the new Hiking layer?
...and will the trails be selectable and their altitude profiles viewable, as is now possible for imported GPX trails?
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/115/028/717/580/264/554/original/328713d371d79792.png

2025-07-31 18:25:51 UTC

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will this replace my existing installation of Organic Maps, or is it a parallel installation which will need its own data?

2025-06-03 16:10:17 UTC

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Boot Repair is the dogs'. Is it still actively maintained?

2025-06-01 22:18:31 UTC

Here's another form factor I wish still existed - the lunchbox.
#RetroFest2025
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2025-05-30 14:03:14 UTC

Hi! I'd like recommendations for a secondhand exploitable e-ink e-reader, something akin to the 2016 Kobo Aura ONE. I want to be able to sideload apps like KOreader and Plato and access the filesystem like any other removable storage.
Please retoot!
#eink #ereader #hackable #linux #foss
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/114/597/147/972/135/728/original/5d1e1fcba42b26cd.jpg

2025-05-10 13:36:14 UTC

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in what way did it go belly up? Is it failing to boot?

2025-03-26 19:22:36 UTC

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I'm proudly self-hosting Nextcloud since 2018. In that time, I've upgraded continuously from Nextcloud 13 to 30, transitioning early on from SQLite to MariaDB, all thanks to @npub1wyf…qzs4's fantastic guides and scripts. Along the way I've upgraded MariaDB and PHP as required. (I have another PHP upgrade scheduled before I upgrade to 31.)
I only have two daily users, but by now I have a high level of trust that Nextcloud will continue to serve our needs for file storage, address book, calendar (and more) into the future.

2025-03-18 21:30:19 UTC

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You have a number of choices at archive.org:
https://archive.org/search?query=simple+sabotage

2025-02-11 23:30:22 UTC

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fancy giving us a review after fifty days of use? Thanks!

2024-11-26 18:35:49 UTC

Calling all #Dublin-based #retrocomputing #mastodaine !
Does anyone have a PC with a 5¼ inch #FiveAndAQuarterInch #FloppyDrive, ideally running #Linux, otherwise a #Microsoft #OS or even #GreaseWeazle, that I could use to image some old disks, please?
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/113/550/688/108/347/649/original/cacd28f7f4723146.jpg

2024-10-30 22:11:04 UTC

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something like this?
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/113/398/661/489/985/105/original/0f86946a4271f3b7.jpg

2024-09-17 22:38:46 UTC

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yes, and as such are quite rare. Hence my difficulty in figuring out a sensible price.
This size range is desirable for use as hard disks on vintage PCs. Many old BIOSes can't access drives larger than 2GB.
Thanks for the input!

2024-09-17 22:09:41 UTC

What's a sensible unit price for each of these? I'm not selling, I'm buying. I'm in Ireland.
#mastodaoine #retrocomputing #DigitalPhotography #CompactFlash
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/113/155/158/602/757/435/original/025db51e12912d61.jpg

2024-08-17 10:33:40 UTC

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FTFY: https://archive.ph/Jl7SH
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/112/976/902/968/112/942/original/41fd5d9df69eb029.png