Floppinux- now this looks like fun! (no, seriously)

[wa4chq]

After the discussion about pine and mutt, I remembered something I found when I first started messing with computers/linux etc.  I was obsessed with any distro that could be put on a floppy.  Whether I used it or not, I had to load up the disk and watch it boot!  I had no clue as to what I was doing and still don't.  I just follow the instructions....yeah, right!  There was something I had put on a floppy that allowed you to retrieve email.  It may have also let you browse the internet using something like Links or Lynx...I don't remember now.  So just a few minutes ago, I started looking around and found this.  Not what I had been using but this looks like fun in a nostalgic kinda way.  Floppinux -an embedded linux on a single floppy  The author mentions using QEMU to test so I imagine you could use VM as well.  OK, I think what I was thinking about was called Net-tamer. Have a great day.

Edited April 2, 2022 by wa4chq

[abarbarian]

Shop bought computers do not come with floppy disk drives anymore. An I think most mobos do not have sockets for floppy disk drives or even old (ide) hard disk drives.

 

 

Apparently the USA were still using floppy disks for their nuclear defence system until 2019.

 

The military has gotten rid of the floppy disks used to control US nuclear weapons for more than 50 years

 

"As C4ISRNet notes, it's unclear exactly which upgrades, if any, have been fully implemented yet. But according to the GAO report, they can't come soon enough.

"According to Defense officials, the system is made up of technologies and equipment that are at the end of their useful lives," the report says. "The system is still running on an IBM Series/1 Computer, which is a 1970s computing system, and written in assembly language code ... Replacement parts for the system are difficult to find because they are now obsolete."

Despite the looming problems facing the old floppy-based SACCS, 595th SCS commander Rossi told C4ISRNet that the legacy system offered an advantage that will never be obsolete: security

"I joke with people and say it's the Air Force's oldest IT system. But it's the age that provides that security," Rossi told C4ISRNet of the SACCS in an October interview. "You can't hack something that doesn't have an IP address . It's a very unique system — it is old and it is very good."

 

[securitybreach]

3 hours ago, abarbarian said:

Shop bought computers do not come with floppy disk drives anymore. An I think most mobos do not have sockets for floppy disk drives or even old (ide) hard disk drives.

 

You can still buy usb floppy drives from amazon https://smile.amazon.com/usb-floppy-drive/s?k=usb+floppy+drive Crazy that they costs $30 bucks considering....

 

I have a couple of them at work that I found, one brand new in the box with a usb3 port. The USB3 port part is very stupid as you will never be able to transfer faster than the 3.5 floppy provides.

[securitybreach]

My boss actually handed me a stack of 3.5 floppies last year and asked me to format or destroy the disks. I though "oh neat" and started formatting. Well I formatted two of them and realized how extremely slow it was to do.. I just ended up ripping the flimsy platters out and cutting them with scissors. It would of taken me a long time to format like 50x 3.5 floppies which is insane considering it's only like 72mb (using 1.44mb disks and some of them may of been smaller).

 

I highly doubt the data was relevant still but as a large global corporation, we can't let any data get out.

[raymac46]

Yeah the big hammer technique is always a good one. 

[Guest Mauser]

5 hours ago, abarbarian said:

Shop bought computers do not come with floppy disk drives anymore. An I think most mobos do not have sockets for floppy disk drives or even old (ide) hard disk drives.

 

 

Apparently the USA were still using floppy disks for their nuclear defence system until 2019.

 

The military has gotten rid of the floppy disks used to control US nuclear weapons for more than 50 years

 

"As C4ISRNet notes, it's unclear exactly which upgrades, if any, have been fully implemented yet. But according to the GAO report, they can't come soon enough.

"According to Defense officials, the system is made up of technologies and equipment that are at the end of their useful lives," the report says. "The system is still running on an IBM Series/1 Computer, which is a 1970s computing system, and written in assembly language code ... Replacement parts for the system are difficult to find because they are now obsolete."

Despite the looming problems facing the old floppy-based SACCS, 595th SCS commander Rossi told C4ISRNet that the legacy system offered an advantage that will never be obsolete: security

"I joke with people and say it's the Air Force's oldest IT system. But it's the age that provides that security," Rossi told C4ISRNet of the SACCS in an October interview. "You can't hack something that doesn't have an IP address . It's a very unique system — it is old and it is very good."

 

I find that extremely disturbing that it took that long to replace a grossly outdated technology for nuclear defense and with a defense budget of over $724 billion adds to the absurdity.  

Edited April 3, 2022 by Mauser
Spelling error.

[abarbarian]

On 4/3/2022 at 3:55 PM, Mauser said:

I find that extremely disturbing that it took that long to replace a grossly outdated technology for nuclear defense and with a defense budget of over $724 billion adds to the absurdity.  

 

 

Heck they based the movie on real life years ago an yer worrying about a few floppies