[PLUG] running (ancient) .BAS file with linux

Bill Barry bill at billbarry.org
Tue Jul 13 00:13:40 UTC 2021


On Mon, Jul 12, 2021 at 7:02 PM Keith Lofstrom <keithl at kl-ic.com> wrote:
>
> A 20+ y.o. astronomy book included a 3.5 inch floppy
> disk with a .BAS program in the back, executable with
> IBM Advanced Basic or GW Basic.  And a time machine ...
>
> I was able to read the floppy and extract the file.
>
> I've "tried" a couple of poorly-documented "basic"
> binaries available for ubuntu 20.04; couldn't get them
> to run; possibly PEBKAC, probably lack of documentation.
>
> Suggestions for a 21st century Linux BASIC that can
> run ancient .BAS binaries?
>
> Keith
>
> ps: I know the author, he's 80yo with vision problems.
> He would help if he could, but ... chances are, I will
> end up helping HIM port HIS program to a 21st century
> platform.
>
> pps:  The program is calculates comet and asteroid
> impact hazards.  It will be a damned shame if humanity
> needs the program to survive someday, but we cannot
> translate it to contemporary software/hardware :-/
>
> --
> Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com

I see a Debian package that might work
python3-pcbasic - cross-platform emulator for the GW-BASIC family of
interpreters (Python2)

Bill



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