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Don't you have a potential malware problem as soon as sharing data between apps (i.e., having a hard disk with a persistent file system which multiple apps can

Don't you have a potential malware problem as soon as sharing data between apps (i.e., having a hard disk with a persistent file system which multiple apps can access, even if serially/one at a time) becomes commonplace? Hard disks with persistent filesystems seem awfully useful. as a nitpick, C64 wasn't really "before MS" - it booted to a BASIC which was derived from Microsoft BASIC!

6510 5y ago
I'm oversimplifying. Basically, I switch on the c64, insert a floppy, load a program and get exactly that. The floppies are physically separated. Without physical access the application can't write to its own floppy[0] Say you physically contain each app by giving it its own processor and its own memory/storage. If it wants access to anything else it needs specific permission managed by something baked onto a chip. A complex detailed permission system. You don't just get to read keyboard input but if you do you don't just get to read it when the application is not focused. If an application is registered to work with a file type it can have access to those but only in defined locations and only that file type, reading and writing separately. If it wants access to anything outside its scope of permission the user not the developer can pick what permission is to be granted and for how long. Add 2 mechanical switches that make it physically impossible to write to and/or read a drive. It seems annoying and bureaucratic but it would allow us to download and run any code from the internet which would be truly exciting. Right now I cant even plug in an usb device and when I do there is no way of knowing what happens to it. It seems absurd. [0] - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephen-Cobb-4/publication/285927161/figure/fig19/AS:421650417098756@1477540701571/Write-protection-on-floppy-disks.png https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephen-Cobb-4/publicat...

6510 5y ago

I'm oversimplifying. Basically, I switch on the c64, insert a floppy, load a program and get exactly that. The floppies are physically separated. Without physical access the application can't write to its own floppy[0] Say you physically contain each app by giving it its own processor and its own memory/storage. If it wants access to anything else it needs specific permission managed by something baked onto a chip. A complex detailed permission system. You don't just get to read keyboard input but if you do you don't just get to read it when the application is not focused. If an application is registered to work with a file type it can have access to those but only in defined locations and only that file type, reading and writing separately. If it wants access to anything outside its scope of permission the user not the developer can pick what permission is to be granted and for how long. Add 2 mechanical switches that make it physically impossible to write to and/or read a drive. It seems annoying and bureaucratic but it would allow us to download and run any code from the internet which would be truly exciting. Right now I cant even plug in an usb device and when I do there is no way of knowing what happens to it. It seems absurd. [0] - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephen-Cobb-4/publication/285927161/figure/fig19/AS:421650417098756@1477540701571/Write-protection-on-floppy-disks.png https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephen-Cobb-4/publicat...