Unfortunately, I started a thread which got itself attached to another
post entitled:
Re: call for commentary: review of Ruby for a magazine (long, sorry!)
This was due to my having used a post as a template… to quickly get the
proper reply-to address in a new post.
I’m recreating it below, so that this will appear as a top-level post
for those people who use a threaded view:
···
–+
I’m looking for resources on getting Ruby running on an HP 200lx:
http://www.hp.com/cposupport/prodhome/pt200lx.html
This is an 8086.
From what I’ve learned, Ruby is effectively 386+ because the tools
needed to compile it for a dos box are 386+. I’m still reading up on
gcc’s ability to target different platforms.
I have access to a Windows XP and a Slackware Linux system.
DJGPP, the recommended DOS compiler, is 32bit only. There is some
information regarding compiling under a 16bit environment:
http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/
http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/16bit/gcc/
gcc claims to run under dos, but when I did some research, they state
that gcc will not compile under any compiler but itself. So I’d have to
install gcc under windows/cygwin/linux… at that point I could just use
gcc and have it’s target be 8086 code.
http://gcc.gnu.org
http://gcc.gnu.org/install/specific.html#dos
I briefly tried cygwin on windows to see if it came with gcc, but my
brief attempt with it came up dry. gcc failed to compile because cygwin
didn’t appear to come with a compiler by default. I’ll have to
re-explore that to download a cygwin prebuilt compiler package, but it’s
probably best that I deal with gcc on the linux box.
This person appears to have ported Ruby, but these are all 386 versions.
http://jarh.hoops.livedoor.com/ruby/
also seen here:
http://www.os.rim.or.jp/~eban/
This old message from the mailing list
http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/10130
described this link as having an old version ported over
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Bay/4076/archive/
but this link appears to be broken.
Installing linux on the palm isn’t going to happen. There are two ~8086
flavours of linux that I’m familiar with, and neither of them would be
particularly appropriate for solving this problem. There is a page I
have archived somewhere which gives help on some specific hardware
issues with getting MINIX running on the 200lx… (dealing with using a
pcmcia card instead of a hdd) but that’s not 100%
I’ve done some searches through the mailing list archives, without success.
http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/ruby/ruby-talk/index.shtml
I went looking to see if gcc was 386 only, but I’m not sure. I think I
should just turn on my linux box and rtfm for gcc. =)
–+
Followup: Another good reason for a 16bit Ruby (if it’s even possible)
is that DOS emulators are still 16bit 80186 at best. Getting dos and
it’s port of Ruby running on an odd box like an HP Jordana, running
Windows CE would be easier than maintaining a separate port for CE.
Similarly, dos emulation on the Amiga, older macs, or even on strange
linux boxes would be easier than porting Ruby to these platforms… since
those emulators already exist.