Mysteriously, backslash has been mapped to backspace for some reason.
unixhero•Aug 23, 2026
Old terminals had this shenanigans going on too. Backspace was not backspace and so on
datakan•Aug 23, 2026
I don't think Backspace as a key was standard internationally until 1994. Apple still doesn't use it, just Delete.
Dwedit•Aug 23, 2026
This is about early IBM PCs, not apple computers. And the non-working key is the Backslash key \ , not the backspace key.
szundi•Aug 23, 2026
Why never seeing a title “written by C” or Java or js
tenox7•Aug 23, 2026
The main feature of apps written in Rust is that they are written in Rust.
dosisking•Aug 23, 2026
"It's not a feature, it's a bug"
fortran77•Aug 23, 2026
I flag all these “written in Rust” posts.
globalnode•Aug 23, 2026
its just ppl trying to be different from their boring parents. wish i had enough karma to flag them too but i keep getting downvoted into oblivion for making fun of written in rust posts
Because nowadays "written in Rust" means "written by AI", as Java or C are not so sexy for LLMs /s
pjmlp•Aug 23, 2026
Because they predate HN, and aren't hip languages any longer.
There was a time for CoffeeScript, PureScript, Elm, Ruby and whatever else you can think of.
Naturally Lisp has to have monthly entries.
/s
teiferer•Aug 23, 2026
Because their following is not cult-based.
(To clarify: I like Rust. I use it every day. But this is going too far.)
fukaiall•Aug 23, 2026
I believe a true engineer should love problems not only languages. But it seems like majority of Rust devs only love the language and try to convert all the problems into Rust problems.
If you have problems in C/C++? Write Rust.
If you have problems in Python? Use Rust.
If you have an issue with your product? Rewrite it in Rust.
Is your company in pinch? Launch a new product in Rust.
If you burn your finger while you’re cooking? Write Rust.
If you have a mental problem? Read a Rust book.
You don’t have a girl friend? You have Rust next to you.
If you hate yourself? Writing Rust will solve your life problems.
ranger_danger•Aug 23, 2026
Ironically, and unfortunately, this doesn't actually emulate the FM Towns Marty (or even the regular FM Towns PC) like I assumed it would.
BobMcBob•Aug 23, 2026
Yet another avenue to play EGATREK in a browser. For that, its work it.
unixhero•Aug 23, 2026
What's great about Egatrek?
EvanAnderson•Aug 23, 2026
Oh, holy crap. I haven't thought about EGATREK in at least 30 years. I'm going to go dig it up right now. Thanks for causing me to recall that memory!
chvid•Aug 23, 2026
Almost usable on an iPhone.
JMiao•Aug 23, 2026
probably in the minority but i want the screeching and grumbling hard disk sounds
But it's written in Rust! Who cares about non-qwerty!
/s
globalnode•Aug 23, 2026
the other week i wrote a program in python, and ive been thinking of upgrading my cpp knowledge from v11, wish me luck
hnlmorg•Aug 23, 2026
Early PCs weren’t written in Rust.
pjmlp•Aug 23, 2026
In C neither, despite urban myths.
hnlmorg•Aug 23, 2026
Is that something people believe? I can’t say that’s a myth I’ve ever heard.
pjmlp•Aug 23, 2026
Yep, before UNIX and C there were no systems programming languages, and after getting the clay tablets from UNIX and C, all civilisation was built upon them. /s
At least when you spend long time around some programming circles.
avadodin•Aug 23, 2026
computer, remove the extraneous slash es from the statement.
pjmlp•Aug 23, 2026
"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that"
queenkjuul•Aug 23, 2026
Early PCs were made of steel which can rust
hnlmorg•Aug 23, 2026
Nicely done!
pjmlp•Aug 23, 2026
Adlib support! At least someone else remembers it wasn't only Soundblaster.
anonzzzies•Aug 23, 2026
All my friends had Soundblasters; I had a self soldered Covox. Fun times.
abrookewood•Aug 23, 2026
Whaaat?? Do tell more!
anonzzzies•Aug 23, 2026
For not well off geeks you could just solder a bunch of resistors together and get vastly better sound than from the crappy PC speaker and there were games that supported it and I wrote some software for it (which unfortunately is gone I think). I had a lot of just having this on the pc in the house.
But Soundblaster came with Adlib, so surely complete support for SB should mean Adlib support as well.. ?
pjmlp•Aug 23, 2026
Yeah and eventually Adlib was gone.
From Wikipedia,
"Not long after its introduction, Creative Labs introduced its competing Sound Blaster card. The Sound Blaster was fully compatible with AdLib's hardware, and it also implemented two key features absent from the AdLib: a PCM audio channel and a game port. With additional features and better marketing, the Sound Blaster quickly overshadowed AdLib as the de facto standard in PC gaming audio. AdLib's slow response, the AdLib Gold, did not sell well enough to sustain the company."
azwaterdamagere•Aug 23, 2026
lol
Kudos•Aug 23, 2026
Not specific to this project, but nowadays when I see "written in rust" I hear "written by Claude".
binaryturtle•Aug 23, 2026
"cross-platform" and Rust, as advertised in the current title/link label, is incompatible for sure. Can't get that to run on my older OS X machine nor my Amiga. :)
tonyhart7•Aug 23, 2026
how to use this fossil computer era ????? I cant type shhiiii
teiferer•Aug 23, 2026
What does the "written in Rust" contribute to the title, exactly?
rvz•Aug 23, 2026
Written in Rust™
throwaway5727•Aug 23, 2026
This comment is itself a meta comment but here we go I guess...How is it possible that half the comments in this thread are about the title itself? It’s not even a made-up title, it’s taken straight from the project’s README...I keep seeing people complaining almost aggressively that others are touting Rust as a useful tool (which, to me personally, it certainly is). Does someone have a financial stake in opposing Rust’s development, or what?
tonyedgecombe•Aug 23, 2026
I suppose it makes a change from complaining that the post was written by an LLM.
braiamp•Aug 23, 2026
But if it's written in rust and with llm then they both implode and we get really insightful comments
gaoheyang•Aug 23, 2026
nice
wiz21c•Aug 23, 2026
besides the fact that it was written in rust, rust happens to be a really nice language to write emulators, you don't have to think much about threading and not much abut memory management, rust makes that easy => you can concentrate on your pixels. Moreover LLM grasp it very well so that you can get a bit more spare time for your emulator-side-project.
It was very long since I wrote any sort of C++ and using rust was pretty refreshing.
Second "besides": marty's PC may not have a lot of breadth in terms of supported hardware, but it gets the accuracy totally right. It's a very special kind of achievement.
(I'm not a rust fanboy :-) I just appreciate the language for writing my emulator)
benj111•Aug 23, 2026
I assume it's called MartyPC because it Marty McFlies?
19 Comments
but I see your point.
There was a time for CoffeeScript, PureScript, Elm, Ruby and whatever else you can think of.
Naturally Lisp has to have monthly entries.
/s
(To clarify: I like Rust. I use it every day. But this is going too far.)
If you have problems in C/C++? Write Rust.
If you have problems in Python? Use Rust.
If you have an issue with your product? Rewrite it in Rust.
Is your company in pinch? Launch a new product in Rust.
If you burn your finger while you’re cooking? Write Rust.
If you have a mental problem? Read a Rust book.
You don’t have a girl friend? You have Rust next to you.
If you hate yourself? Writing Rust will solve your life problems.
/s
At least when you spend long time around some programming circles.
https://github.com/necroware/silly-sound-bastard
From Wikipedia,
"Not long after its introduction, Creative Labs introduced its competing Sound Blaster card. The Sound Blaster was fully compatible with AdLib's hardware, and it also implemented two key features absent from the AdLib: a PCM audio channel and a game port. With additional features and better marketing, the Sound Blaster quickly overshadowed AdLib as the de facto standard in PC gaming audio. AdLib's slow response, the AdLib Gold, did not sell well enough to sustain the company."
It was very long since I wrote any sort of C++ and using rust was pretty refreshing.
Second "besides": marty's PC may not have a lot of breadth in terms of supported hardware, but it gets the accuracy totally right. It's a very special kind of achievement.
(I'm not a rust fanboy :-) I just appreciate the language for writing my emulator)