On Fri, Apr 9, 2021 at 11:35 AM Paul Ruizendaal via TUHS <tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org> wrote:
> On 09/04/2021 11:12, emanuel stiebler wrote: > You're comparing a z80 SBC running CP/M? Or are you thinking of 68000 SBCs?

Z80 CP/M machines were still competitive in 1981-1983 (Osborne, Kaypro) 

> I've never seen a 68k SBC. Have I missed out something along the way? Is there a community for 68k SBC's? Kind regards, Andrew

There is an active community around DIY 68k SBCs these days. Some representative examples:


There are even a couple of fairly advanced 68030 design floating around:


(I have a soft spot for 68k.)

        - Dan C.

Well, Rob Pike designed one: http://doc.cat-v.org/bell_labs/blit/

I guess the original hacker scene for the 68K was around Hal Hardenberg’s newsletter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTACK_Grounded

The ready-made 68K SBC’s only arrived 1984-1985:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_QL (I think Linus Torvalds owned one)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_ST
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_128K
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga_1000

All these machines are rather similar at the hardware level - 68K processor, RAM shared between CPU and display. Only the Amiga had a (simple) hardware GPU.

What set the SUN-1 apart was its MMU, which none of the above have.

What influenced the timing was probably that Motorola made the 68K more affordable by the mid-80’s.

Paul