Linux : 32 bit only what is the trick 3885

It's just *amazing* the things people did with 8080-8085-Z80 cpu's.

In 1989, long after the heyday of CP-M computers, I was part of a group that took an introductory course on micro processors. It was a great way to get out of work for a couple weeks! The course used 8085's, and I'd done Z80 buttembler for years.

But an odd thing happened after the course was finished, and we all had to go back to work. I was standing in front of the DMS-200 toll switch in Fairbanks, when one of the other participants (who had almost no computer experience) complained that he'd just found out the cpu we'd studied was "ancient" and "outdated", which he equated to meaning he'd just learned a lot of useless information.

I took him on a tour of the DMS-200, pointing out the several dozens of 8085 cpu's. Not to mention a pile of 68000 cpu's too. Also at the time all of our echo cancellors were z80 based, as was the controller for one of several digital microwave radios.

I don't know which cpu's hit the high numbers today, but as late as 1989-90 that group of cpu's was still selling millions of units per year! And even today there are several cpu's based on that model, and I just happened to notice a Z80 cross compiler hosted on Linux a couple days ago.

(And while I do have fond memories of writing Z80 code, I *never* want to do buttembler again, of any kind! It just took too much time...)

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