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by nsxwolf 2097 days ago
I also wonder how much the difficulty of sharing files between different systems due to different disk formats played a role in its failure.

You could run p-system on a lot of machines - Apple II, IBM PC, TI-99/4A, PDP11... but how would you (and why would you) distribute your code across machines with such different storage media?
1 comments
WalterBright 2097 days ago
Oh, people found ways to transfer files. BBSs were one way, the Kermit program another, NNTP newsgroups, etc.

I transferred files from my PDP-11 (8" floppies) to my PC (5.25" floppies) using Kermit.

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nsxwolf 2096 days ago
Maybe it was more of a problem of not being able to think of a use case for running a pCode program meant for a 512K PDP11 on a 48K Apple II+. A bit ahead of its time.
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WalterBright 2096 days ago
It was definitely ahead of its time, but I and others tried to use it. It was just too slow, and you couldn't make competitive products with it.
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