January 31, 2026
Raiders of the Lost Disks
The hunt for Benchmark Modula-2 (2018)
Lost Amiga treasure found—commenters shout “drop the link”
TLDR: Rare Amiga Modula‑2 disks resurfaced and are being preserved with an open license, complete with a working download page. Commenters cheered the rescue but instantly called out the missing link, turning the thread into equal parts nostalgia party and “just give us the files” pragmatism—because access beats anecdotes.
A retro-code treasure hunt ends in victory: rare Amiga Modula‑2 disks have been rescued, the manual is scanned, and the long-lost compiler is headed for open licensing. But the real action? The comments. The top vibe is pure Indiana Jones energy—people cheering the detective work that tracked down former owners, then shipped floppies across oceans to be preserved. The second vibe is the siren of the link police. One eagle-eyed commenter pointed out the post forgot the download link and promptly dropped it: here you go.
Non-tech translation: Modula‑2 is an old programming language, the Amiga is a beloved 80s/90s home computer, and these disks are the keys to rebuilding classic apps and demos—think digital archaeology. The drama? Some readers want less lore and more downloads now, while others are savoring the backstory of open permissions, lost companies, and a coder named Tom mailing pristine floppies from his archives. There are lighthearted nitpicks about typos and a “Gravity/Galaxy Wars” mix-up, plus jokey demands for “pics or it didn’t happen.” The consensus: preservation matters, but don’t make fans hunt twice—give them the goods. With the link finally front and center, the crowd shifts from “where is it?!” to “let’s play.”
Key Points
- •The author sought to rebuild Modula-2–written Gold Disk apps (File, Pro Calc) after obtaining permission to release them as Public Domain.
- •Research identified Benchmark Modula-2 as the original toolchain; Mark Wickens had a nearly complete first release and a scanned manual, but one disk was missing.
- •Benchmark Modula-2 development continued beyond the initial Leon Frenkel release under Armadillo Computing (Jim Olinger), with later work by programmer Tom Breeden.
- •Tom Breeden agreed to open preservation, located and shipped crucial disks and source backups; disks were imaged successfully using a Kryoflux device.
- •Disk images and the manual are now available, with plans to produce an Asciidoctor version of the manual in a GitLab repository.