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Show HN: FocusedEdit – a classic Macintosh to web browser shared text editor (github.com)

83 points by camhenlin ↗ HN
I built a classic Macintosh text editor that allows users to do shared bidirection live editing with a web browser on a modern computer. Essentially it allows allows you to really quickly and easily share and edit text snippets on a classic Macintosh. I've tested the software on System 2.0 through System 7.6.1, but it should work on all PPC and 68k Macintoshes running up to MacOS 9.2.2 assuming they have a modem serial port available.

In addition to the github repository, I wrote up a blog post here: https://henlin.net/2022/10/02/Introducing-FocusedEdit-for-cl... outlining how to get up and running. Both the repo and the blog post have a demo gif to help explain exactly what FocusedEdit does as well as how it works.

If you have any questions or decide to try it out on your Macintosh or in an emulator, let me know! I'd love to hear about it!

29 comments

[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 84.8 ms ] thread
akkartik
Why do you call this bidirectional? It doesn't look like you can edit in the web browser and pick up the edits inside the Macintosh emulator?
camhenlin
Yep, it goes both ways! You can paste or edit text that you want to edit on the Classic Mac in to the web browser as well
akkartik
What is the goal? Is it to make using the classic Macintosh more ergonomic in a modern world?
camhenlin
I want to include my classic Macs as a part of my daily workflow. I’ve been using this recently to type up emails, long slack messages, and confluence docs for work. I even used it to type up the markdown that drives the introductory blog post I wrote at https://henlin.net/2022/10/02/Introducing-FocusedEdit-for-cl...
akkartik
That sounds wonderful.

It's too bad I missed the cultural milieu of the classic Macs, so I lack the motivation to go down this particular road with you. But I'm on a nearby track with other simpler (and non-retro) computing stacks.

bananamerica
I guess I have to be that guy: Emacs have a mode/Browser addon combo for that :P
camhenlin
Sure but with emacs you’d have to do it in MacTerm or another chunk of telnet software, set up a LocalTalk network, etc. whereas this only requires a serial cable and also gives you a native Mac UI to do your editing in
II2II
It is far simpler than that: set up getty on a Unix system to monitor a serial port, connect the Macintosh via serial, then use a telecommunications program (like MacTerminal, ZTerm, or ClarisWorks).
bitwize
Until you solve for Emacs not following the Apple HIG, it's a complete nonstarter for classic Mac users.
II2II
If you're suggesting that most classic Mac users would not enjoy Emacs, then I would agree. That said, software such as MacTerminal and hardware such as extended keyboards (both from Apple) existed because people were interested in accessing remote applications and services. If someone was logging into a Unix system, Emacs could have been available to them.

It is also worth noting that there was interest in applications that violated Apple's HIG written for or ported to the classic Mac. I don't know if Emacs was one of them, but vim certainly was. Vim certainly does a better job at violating the HIG than Emacs!

KerrAvon
I think more precisely Vim does a *different* job of violating the HIG than Emacs does.

I don’t recall there being a successful Emacs port to classic Mac OS — I would have been very interested in the early to mid 90’s. The Mac editor landscape was actually pretty sparse if you wanted something sophisticated/integrated/customizable. There was Alpha, which was Tcl-based. MPW’s editor wasn’t customizable to the same degree. BBEdit existed, but it was actually quite bare bones at that point; even today it’s still pretty fixed-function.

Maursault
> I don’t recall there being a successful Emacs port to classic Mac OS — I would have been very interested in the early to mid 90’s.

Correct. Apple had emacs removed from A/UX because it took up too much space. Though some built it on their Macs in the late 1980s, it didn't have full functionality, at least not without headaches.[1] But A/UX came with vi, which worked well.

[1] https://www.tuhs.org/Usenet/comp.unix.aux/1989-September/003...

kiawe_fire
I love the classic box art, and love the concept of building new tools for beloved legacy systems like this.
digitalsankhara
Yes, I love the art too, capturing the era of that design style very well. I'm feeling nostalgic for my old Classic MacOS (I have a MacOS 9.2 hard disk sat here waiting for me to buy a replacement machine).
digitalsankhara
I like your idea and I'd not heard of CoprocessorJS. If I had only a serial port for networking (e.g. the Mac Classic I wish I'd never parted with), I'd be tempted to emulate tail -f on the Mac side sending to the filesystem on the "remote" machine but not bi-directional. But, IIRC, AppleTalk to ethernet adaptors existed I think so maybe that's the route I'd go.

Writing on the Mac to a remote file for onward processing is cool, so have fun.

camhenlin
I developed CoprocessorJS to assist with building out these sorts apps. I used it to develop this application and one that I posted a few months ago for interacting with iMessages: https://github.com/CamHenlin/MessagesForMacintosh I have a few other ideas for classic Mac apps that I’ll use CoprocessorJS for as well

Here’s a blog post explaining my reasoning behind CoprocessorJS: https://henlin.net/2021/12/21/Introducing-CoprocessorJS/

digitalsankhara
Thanks for the links and enjoyed reading about your technical creativity. I hadn't appreciated the extent of the C library on the Mac side. Lots of possibilities for integration.
bitwize
This is a nice little utility that supports a conjecture of mine: Powerful modern computers can enhance the utility, and extend the useful lifespan, of old computers.
ireflect
Consider adding an RSS feed to your blog! I tried to add it to my NetNewsWire and was disappointed.
camhenlin
I’ll take a look and see if hexo (the software powering the blog) supports it! Appreciate the suggestion!
camhenlin
I got an RSS feed going! I was able to add it to NetNewsWire. I need to go through and add descriptions to my previous posts still, but at least I'm up and running now. Thanks again for the suggestion!
ireflect
What the heck? I did not expect this so quickly.

Thanks! Following.

gandalfff
Any way to run this on an iMac G4 700Mhz, running MacOS 9.2.2?
camhenlin
Potentially! The trouble with these machines is they don't have a factory serial port. There were a few companies that made serial port expansions for this generation of machines. Check out GeeThree Stealth Port, Griffin gPort, and Jamport for potential options