Hello Ahem!

Friday March 26 2021 13:43, you wrote to Adrian Caspersz:

 > On Fri, 26 Mar 2021 10:27:13 +0000
 > Adrian Caspersz  wrote:

 >> The Raspberry Pi 400, to me is just screaming to be booted up with a
 >> BBC BASIC prompt without a GUI. Just switch it on, and start coding
 >> like it's 1984... er, 1981.

 >     If you had a BBC Micro in 1981 I'm impressed, there were a handful
 > of model As shipped in December but even at Torch we didn't get model
 > B boards until well into 1982.

I had a Touch system that was used to migrate MS, DR and others to their drive
formats and more importantly to test said products on it.

We did this for a very large number of PC manufacturers even before IBM got in
on the act.

Around the same time we developed a multi drive formatting machine which was a
bit of a large beast that supported CPM, MPM, DOS (PC and others), GEM & *nix
for drives of 8", 5.25 and 3.5" and the odd odd one such as a 2.5".

When we got orders for specific software we would copy from a master to the
specific format using programs written in C and Basic.

As we were the European distributor for many software vendors covering the
Operating Systems and applications the hardware manufacturers came to us for
their requirements for delivery any where outside the US.

The Company was M.P.I (Microcomputer Products International) and we shut down
mid to late 1985 due to others doing similar but with silly and heavy
discounting even to end users.  Needless to say that within 3 months of us
closing most of the others did the same so may be we closed a bit too early :(

At least it allowed to get some flying in over the next few years by going 
from
a PPL to IMC, Night, IR, Instructor, Twin, Jet and Commercial licenses and
ratings.

Must have done over 2,000 hours over a period of those 48 months covering
trips all over Europe and Middle East as well as some trips bringing over a
few twins mostly direct from the US to the UK and where ever possible using
the jet streams for max speed (ground) so on some A/C it was well under 12
hours with the odd one or two under 9.  Not bad for piston based a/c.
Not can't counting the turbines.



Vincent

--- Mageia Linux v7.1 X64/Mbse v1.0.7.21/GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707