> The interpreter (xbasic) can be used as a shell. It can run basic-scripts in all environments, p.ex. *.cgi-Scripts for handling web-input.
This is both terrifying and something I definitely want to play with.
Back in the olden days, when you booted up a computer, you got dumped into what was essentially a BASIC shell. If your input didn’t start with a line number it was interpreted immediately. Having only experienced that sort of environment, I didn’t understand how programming languages like Pascal that didn’t have line numbers worked.
How have I lived for this long on the interwebs an never realised this was a thing?
I thought the same thing. I would have loved to have known about this 30 years ago. If only there had been an o'reilly book.
I had no idea that we could install third party software on TomTom car navigation systems until just now.
> A WEB interface (via bloutooth and cgi-scripts) using a webserver.
and serve cool warez
Oh yeah, I ran a location logger on mine for years until Google Maps location tracking popped up.
Now that they're killing it… I don't think I'll go back to using a TomTom any time soon lol
Now I want to know what the most hackable US model was.
There was also Basmark QuickBasic Compiler for Linux,
> X11-Basic will compile on 64bit systems but it will not be 100% functional. X11-Basic internally uses 32bit pointers (--> VARPTR()). These are not compatible with 64bit. Some tricks have been implemented to make it work anyways, but do not expect 100% compatibility.
I recently acquired an SGI Indy and was wondering if there was a good BASIC for it. Will have to check this out and see if it compiles!
That would be fun. Give Iris Explorer a spin - the demos make any SGI seem like a supercomputer. (Better on an Indigo2 or Octane, but hey) I did real work in Octave + gnuplot on SGI machines of the era but I'd be surprised if recent versions compile.
I see from the latter link that the last update was in February 2024 — glad that the project is still alive!
I have said it many times before. You could fill a library with all the problem that BASIC leads too. But at its core is a message that is missing a little from modern computing - the ability to jump in and just get something simple built quick. The idea that you control the machine even if it is slow and sludgy.
This also goes a lot for the leap from command prompts to GUI's. You trade off control for functionality and that is not necessarily a bad thing. I just wish it was easier to get back to a middle path on this. Many have tried but it all seems a little too fragmented.
>But at its core is a message that is missing a little from modern computing - the ability to jump in and just get something simple built quick.
That niche has been pretty much filled by Excel, for better or worse.
Slightly newer page here (v1.28): https://x11-basic.codeberg.page/
I definitely have to put X11 (Xwayland) inside https://exaequOS.com for running this version of Basic !