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Boat Rudder Admin News 2023-08-23

I am building a retro-compatible CMS

It all started in 2008, when I restored my first PC, a 66 MHz 486SLC2, and discovered that it was still possible to connect it to the internet. Years later, when I recreated it in a virtual machine, I found a very different situation: although Google still worked, almost no websites were compatible with those old systems.



This was my first computer in 2008.
This was my first computer in 2008.

That experience sparked my interest in restoring vintage computers and building a small museum of machines connected to the internet. To make this possible, I set up a server with basic HTML pages compatible with browsers from that era, where I could download games and software.

In 2020, I decided to create The Retro Center, a website dedicated to retro technology that had to support Internet Explorer 3 and Netscape 4 at a minimum. After experimenting with WordPress and Next.js, I found that neither option fully met my needs.

Eventually, I decided to build my own HTTP server in C, giving me greater control over the system and reducing my dependence on external technologies.

In February 2024, I released the source code under the name Boat Rudder, a project that has continued to grow alongside The Retro Center. I'm still working on it today, improving the administration interface and getting closer to the first beta release.

If you are interested in reading the full story, you can find it at:




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