Wikipedia Reader for System 6 and up has been released. It allows you to
retrieve Wikipedia articles via their API and read them on your vintage
Macintosh.

Or in the words of the author:

> Due to Wikipedia no longer serving its API over plaintext HTTP, a plaintext-to-TLS proxy is required to forward requests. Currently this defaults to using a free Cloudflare worker that I've setup, but the settings dialog in the application allows changing this to a private proxy if so desired (or perhaps some actual host on wikipedia.org if they ever support plaintext again).

> No translation or conversion is done server-side. Wikipedia Reader accesses the raw Wikitext markup of an article through the Wikipedia API, parses the markup, converts UTF-8 to MacRoman, and displays the text. Basic formatting such as bold, italic, underline, and header sizes are supported, and clicking on a hyperlink to another article will jump to that article.

Info & download: http://jcs.org/2023/10/17/wikipedia

Disclaimer: I'm not the author, nor in any way affiliated. Just passing
on the info to my fellow vintage Mac enthusiasts.

Sebastian from Cornica <info@cornica.org> writes:

> Wikipedia Reader for System 6 and up has been released. It allows you to
> retrieve Wikipedia articles via their API and read them on your vintage
> Macintosh.
>
> Or in the words of the author:
>
>> Due to Wikipedia no longer serving its API over plaintext HTTP, a
>> plaintext-to-TLS proxy is required to forward requests. Currently
>> this defaults to using a free Cloudflare worker that I've setup, but
>> the settings dialog in the application allows changing this to a
>> private proxy if so desired (or perhaps some actual host on
>> wikipedia.org if they ever support plaintext again).
>
>> No translation or conversion is done server-side. Wikipedia Reader
>> accesses the raw Wikitext markup of an article through the Wikipedia
>> API, parses the markup, converts UTF-8 to MacRoman, and displays the
>> text. Basic formatting such as bold, italic, underline, and header
>> sizes are supported, and clicking on a hyperlink to another article
>> will jump to that article.
>
> Info & download: http://jcs.org/2023/10/17/wikipedia
>
> Disclaimer: I'm not the author, nor in any way affiliated. Just passing
> on the info to my fellow vintage Mac enthusiasts.

This is lovely! The increasing prevalence of publicly-accessible HTTP
APIs should make it relatively easy to bang together custom clients like
this for a variety of services. All you need is an HTTP client and a
JSON library. For instance, I've played with a Common Lisp graphical
client for Internet Archive items; their API isn't pretty, but it's
usable!

Josh Stein is really doing some fascinating stuff with old Macs.

john

Sebastian from Cornica wrote:
> Wikipedia Reader for System 6 and up has been released. It allows
> you to retrieve Wikipedia articles
[...]
> Info & download: http://jcs.org/2023/10/17/wikipedia
>
> Disclaimer: I'm not the author, nor in any way affiliated. Just
> passing on the info to my fellow vintage Mac enthusiasts.

Thanks.

Though; Please do check your MT-NW wordwrap settings ;-)

--
dee

Sebastian from Cornica <info@cornica.org> writes:

> Wikipedia Reader for System 6 and up has been released. It allows you to
> retrieve Wikipedia articles via their API and read them on your vintage
> Macintosh.
>
> Or in the words of the author:
>
>> Due to Wikipedia no longer serving its API over plaintext HTTP, a
>> plaintext-to-TLS proxy is required to forward requests. Currently
>> this defaults to using a free Cloudflare worker that I've setup, but
>> the settings dialog in the application allows changing this to a
>> private proxy if so desired (or perhaps some actual host on
>> wikipedia.org if they ever support plaintext again).
>
>> No translation or conversion is done server-side. Wikipedia Reader
>> accesses the raw Wikitext markup of an article through the Wikipedia
>> API, parses the markup, converts UTF-8 to MacRoman, and displays the
>> text. Basic formatting such as bold, italic, underline, and header
>> sizes are supported, and clicking on a hyperlink to another article
>> will jump to that article.
>
> Info & download: http://jcs.org/2023/10/17/wikipedia
>
> Disclaimer: I'm not the author, nor in any way affiliated. Just passing
> on the info to my fellow vintage Mac enthusiasts.

This is lovely! The increasing prevalence of publicly-accessible HTTP
APIs should make it relatively easy to bang together custom clients like
this for a variety of services. All you need is an HTTP client and a
JSON library. For instance, I've played with a Common Lisp graphical
client for Internet Archive items; their API isn't pretty, but it's
usable!

Josh Stein is really doing some fascinating stuff with old Macs.

john
. Path: i2pn2.org!i2pn.org!eternal-september.org!feeder2.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Knezzen <contact@unixfiles.org>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.vintage
Subject: Re: Has anyone tried system 6 on a iici?
Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2023 14:28:05 +0100
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
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Message-ID: <contact-9FDCC3.14280406112023@news.eternal-september.org>
References: <65484DBC.37E2@gmail.com> <ui9tti$c7dr$1@dont-email.me> <cintoli-0611230831560001@10.0.2.5>
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logging-data="521257"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX19ZMfSTlyLmPSceEmBNLzEG"
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In article <cintoli-0611230831560001@10.0.2.5>,
cintoli@gmail.com (Alessandro Cintoli) wrote:

> In article <ui9tti$c7dr$1@dont-email.me>, Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com>
> wrote:
>
> > On 2023-11-06 02:21:49 +0000, snes1423 said:
> >
> > > Maybe Bolkonskij knows the answer to how much faster it is than system
> > > 7.1
> >
> > The IIci originally shipped with System 6.0.4, so it should run fine
> > and would be probably a bit faster than more gimmickry and bloat in
> > System 7.1.
>
> I actually used a IIci at work in 1992 with its original System 6.0.4.
>
> It was blazing fast but it also had the high-end configuration with all
> the hardware options built in.
>
> I remember it very fondly because it was my first Mac.

It will surely run a bit faster, but there's a lot of software you're
unable to use. I feel like System 6 is quite crippled compared to say
7.1.

Sebastian from Cornica wrote:
> Wikipedia Reader for System 6 and up has been released. It allows
> you to retrieve Wikipedia articles
[...]
> Info & download: http://jcs.org/2023/10/17/wikipedia
>
> Disclaimer: I'm not the author, nor in any way affiliated. Just
> passing on the info to my fellow vintage Mac enthusiasts.

Thanks.

Though; Please do check your MT-NW wordwrap settings ;-)

--
dee
. Path: i2pn2.org!i2pn.org!eternal-september.org!feeder2.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: cintoli@gmail.com (Alessandro Cintoli)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.vintage
Subject: Re: Has anyone tried system 6 on a iici?
Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2023 21:54:49 +0100
Organization: Cintolabs
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Message-ID: <cintoli-0611232154490001@10.0.2.5>
References: <65484DBC.37E2@gmail.com> <ui9tti$c7dr$1@dont-email.me> <cintoli-0611230831560001@10.0.2.5> <contact-9FDCC3.14280406112023@news.eternal-september.org>
Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="786b4f02f17fe071755de9f48668b169";
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In article <contact-9FDCC3.14280406112023@news.eternal-september.org>,
Knezzen <contact@unixfiles.org> wrote:

> > >
> > > The IIci originally shipped with System 6.0.4, so it should run fine
> > > and would be probably a bit faster than more gimmickry and bloat in
> > > System 7.1.
> >
> > I actually used a IIci at work in 1992 with its original System 6.0.4.
> >
> > It was blazing fast but it also had the high-end configuration with all
> > the hardware options built in.
> >
> > I remember it very fondly because it was my first Mac.
>
> It will surely run a bit faster, but there's a lot of software you're
> unable to use. I feel like System 6 is quite crippled compared to say
> 7.1.

Well, if you go to www.macintoshrepository.com you can find a wide range
of vintage software that will work with System 6.0.4. Indubitably,
upgrading to 7.1 (and up to 7.6.1 for that matter) should also help you
use some internet applications, like the one I am using now, Newswatcher
on a Mac OS 7.6.1 emulator, connected to my LAN.

In article <cintoli-0611232154490001@10.0.2.5>, cintoli@gmail.com
(Alessandro Cintoli) wrote:

> In article <contact-9FDCC3.14280406112023@news.eternal-september.org>,
> Knezzen <contact@unixfiles.org> wrote:
>
>
> > > >
> > > > The IIci originally shipped with System 6.0.4, so it should run fine
> > > > and would be probably a bit faster than more gimmickry and bloat in
> > > > System 7.1.
> > >
> > > I actually used a IIci at work in 1992 with its original System 6.0.4.
> > >
> > > It was blazing fast but it also had the high-end configuration with all
> > > the hardware options built in.
> > >
> > > I remember it very fondly because it was my first Mac.
> >
> > It will surely run a bit faster, but there's a lot of software you're
> > unable to use. I feel like System 6 is quite crippled compared to say
> > 7.1.
>
Well, if you go to www.macintoshrepository.org, you can find a wide range
of vintage software that will work with System 6.0.4.

Indubitably, upgrading to 7.1 (and up to 7.6.1 for that matter) should
also help you
use some internet applications, like the one I am using now, Newswatcher
on a Mac OS 7.6.1 emulator, connected to my LAN. But I am afraid that the
overall speed and performance will suffer.

On 2023-11-06 20:57:15 +0000, Alessandro Cintoli said:

> In article <cintoli-0611232154490001@10.0.2.5>, cintoli@gmail.com
> (Alessandro Cintoli) wrote:
>
>> In article <contact-9FDCC3.14280406112023@news.eternal-september.org>,
>> Knezzen <contact@unixfiles.org> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>>>
>>>>> The IIci originally shipped with System 6.0.4, so it should run fine
>>>>> and would be probably a bit faster than more gimmickry and bloat in
>>>>> System 7.1.
>>>>
>>>> I actually used a IIci at work in 1992 with its original System 6.0.4.
>>>>
>>>> It was blazing fast but it also had the high-end configuration with all
>>>> the hardware options built in.
>>>>
>>>> I remember it very fondly because it was my first Mac.
>>>
>>> It will surely run a bit faster, but there's a lot of software you're
>>> unable to use. I feel like System 6 is quite crippled compared to say
>>> 7.1.
>>
> Well, if you go to www.macintoshrepository.org, you can find a wide range
> of vintage software that will work with System 6.0.4.

MacintoshGarden.org is a much better source for old software.

The lazy ass at MacintoshRepository.org set-up the website by leeched
*everything* (software archives, screenshots, descriptions, etc.) from
MacintoshGarden.org without asking or acknowledging it. He continues to
leech stuff as well.

> Indubitably, upgrading to 7.1 (and up to 7.6.1 for that matter) should
> also help you use some internet applications, like the one I am using
> now, Newswatcher on a Mac OS 7.6.1 emulator, connected to my LAN. But I
> am afraid that the overall speed and performance will suffer.

In article <uibted$m0uq$1@dont-email.me>, Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com>
wrote:

>
> MacintoshGarden.org is a much better source for old software.
>
> The lazy ass at MacintoshRepository.org set-up the website by leeched
> *everything* (software archives, screenshots, descriptions, etc.) from
> MacintoshGarden.org without asking or acknowledging it. He continues to
> leech stuff as well.

Thank you for pointing this out.

that and they got a paywall thats advertly painfull compared to getting
the same stuff that is on the garden for free

while sure i can see system 7.1 but if i were to make a computer/gaming
setup i would focus on a specific year like 1985 for the nes/macintosh
512k or 1991 for the Super Famicom/Quadra 650?

In article <cintoli-0711230157270001@10.0.2.5>,
cintoli@gmail.com (Alessandro Cintoli) wrote:

> In article <uibted$m0uq$1@dont-email.me>, Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com>
> wrote:
>
>
> >
> > MacintoshGarden.org is a much better source for old software.
> >
> > The lazy ass at MacintoshRepository.org set-up the website by leeched
> > *everything* (software archives, screenshots, descriptions, etc.) from
> > MacintoshGarden.org without asking or acknowledging it. He continues to
> > leech stuff as well.
>
> Thank you for pointing this out.

Yep, we should all spread the word. Lots of the screenshots,
descriptions, imaged disks and scanned manuals I've created to share for
free (!) on the Macintosh Garden now ended up on this guys page being
sold as part of his download flatrate. Not cool.

As for the original question, System 6 IS very fast on a IIci. I run
6.0.8 next to 7.1 on it and it is noticeably faster to respond and in
booting than System 7. That said, I agree with Knezzen about the
practical advantage of 7. Everything that has to do with networking is
so much more developed on System 7, there's much more software and
options. (and yes, naturally, more "bloat" but compare that to Mac OS 8
or even 9 ...)

System 6 is speedy and I love it for the ability to disable Multifinder
and run it with the old-style Finder. That makes it very compatible even
with old mid 80's Macintosh software. I've been working my way through
some 80's shareware collections and it's been fun discovering stuff from
"the wild days". Reading old e-Zines, trying out some crazy old
shareware, watching MacPaint images ... all while enjoying a cold beer
is awesome for relaxing and some nostalgia. :-)