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Intel 8086 VS Polish communist MERA-400 CPU (evolution of Karpiński K-202 arch)

7 points by InterNautic 3 years ago · 4 comments · 1 min read


Video from channel of an owner and restoration hobbyist from Poland who owns and runs a working (as far as age and quality of socialist era components allows it) unit of that computer. Mera-400 is a descendant of legendary K-202 architecture designed by Jacek Karpiński (Polish computer systems engineer known for analog and digital computers designs including his 1964 variant of Perceptron - early neural network type of computer).

More detailed article on Jacek Karpiński is available at English language wikipedia.

Mera-400 was notable for running CROOK operating system that was an OS influenced by UNIX.

Video with subtitles, you can use auto-translate to English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7gh1PEqVak

garaetjjte 3 years ago

I don't think that 8086 is good candidate for comparison though. Something like PDP-11 would be more appropriate.

  • InterNauticOP 3 years ago

    Bro, barely anyone in Poland ever seen a PDP-11 in real life and even less people know what PDP-11 is.

    • LargoLasskhyfv 3 years ago
      • InterNauticOP 3 years ago

        You are overestimating the amount of computers produced in eastern bloc and soviet union. Numbers here were nowhere near 600 000 units of total production of original PDP-11 computers in the west. They were almost unobtanium that you had to order few years in advance even if you were a governmental institution. If you were just a mere mortal you was limited to more primitive machines or try smuggling something from the west. You probably had the best chances to get something more or less as advanced as ZX Spectrum at best. Tho there was few units of Apple somehow successfully smuggled back in the '80s to Poland and in use for DTP. They were covered by embargo if I am not mistaken.

        So yes, even these PDP clones were rare as heck. As for "mainframe" versions they were mostly built like 1 or 2 dozens of units each variation and kept in research institutions. With high chance that they were cough cough not exactly compatible with each other just because there was not enough of some [working] chips and team assembling a unit had to modify architecture to get whole machine run at all. As for more "desktop" versions like soviet Electronica I would not call them being very common in Poland. Polish PDP clone MERA-60 was for example in the year 1984 made in like 427 units and over 351 were sold abroad. Main client were armies and nuclear research facilities. That's quite limited audience with rather restrictive environment unfriendly for random observer from the outside. Other PDP-11 clone SM-4 was mostly used for CAD so it was relatively rare machine. So I would not call PDP clones to be very common in communist Poland. I doubt you would find too many people in Poland (that had a population of ~38 millions back in the mid '80s) able to tell you anything about PDP architecture when in comparison you would find plenty of people familiar with Intel 8086, MOS 6502, Z80. So it makes perfect sense to compare it to 8086. Especially considering MERA-400 background in K-202 that is commonly being compared in context of Intel's CPU though it predates it. Or maybe exactly because it predates it (long story full of folklore). Anyway once again - almost no one here in Poland is familiar with broad range of what is known as PDP-11. So comparison with 8086 sound reasonable.

        If you want to name a single "big iron" computer that mere mortals had highest chance to see it would be one of Odra models (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odra_(computer)). They were much more common. The last unit (a true nest of wire wrapped connections) still in use in industrial settings was replaced just around 2010. It was in use by Polish railways controlling traffic.It was fully designed and assembled in Poland so these machines were accounting for (lower than western) quality of components on all stages including servicing unlike attempts on making PDP clones that sooner or later had to met reality of technological (in)capabilities of the era and place.

        As for home computers the name you are looking for is mostly Elwro Junior - ZX Spectrum clone. We may mention "Mazovia" that was a 1986 IBM PC clone-ish computer was produced in about 3300 (33 hundreds in a country with population of 38 millions) units in total.

        All the rest was so rare they were made for biggest centers of governmental industry facilities and universities plus army.

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