So, given my interest in retrocomputing, I have bought myself Agon Light computer, AgonLight2 version.

What is it?

It is actually modern “old” computer, having 512 kilobytes of memory and eZ80 CPU. The CPU has two modes:

• one is fully compatible with classic Z80 CPU (8-bit, 64 kilobytes of addressable RAM)
• one is slight extension of it (24-bit, and this is not a typo)

There is also ESP chip which handles keyboard, graphics, and audio.

The year was 1994. I wanted multi-tasking operating system so I have tried to install fresh Windows 95. It failed; actually, it failed 12 times in a row. I think now that the reason was my computer – I was using UMC CPU. After the 12th failure I have installed Slackware Linux. I did not have enough RAM (I had only 4Mb) to run X Window or Red Hat (one needed 8 Mb) but Slackware worked as a charm. I did every beginner’s mistake, starting out with “What is /proc/kcore and why is it so big? Can I delete it?” Luckily, I had a friend who knew about Linux and was answering my never-ending questions. Long story short, I have got my FidoNet point and UUCP running. Of course, I did not have any Internet access (which was not very useful at that time; just think that Google started out as a research project in 1996) and my modem was 2400 bod without error correction (I also had VGA monitor which I did not like due to it is not being sharp enough, so I was using monochrome Hercules monitor – mind you, amber-glowing not green-glowing). I was doing MNP5 for my modem in software. Later I have moved to Debian (was it 13 floppy disks?), got 14400 bod modem with error correction, and dial up internet access – in this order. I vividly remember upgrade from 1.2.13 kernel to 2.x line. It has required to update everything, and on dial up it was an adventure.