[ascarola]

This is a great story, and you're further along than I ever got in 1987! I had a C64 back then, too, and was fascinated by it, but never attempted anything this ambitious. Girlfriends, too, got the best of me! Fast forward nearly 40 years, and I finally built my Unix-inspired shell for it, just with a very different kind of assistant helping with the assembly. :)

The directory speed problem is real. I sidestepped it entirely by keeping the filesystem RAM-resident (max 8 entries, heap at $6000), which makes LS instant but obviously volatile. Your track 16/17 commandeering approach is incredible and fascinating. MATRIX sounds amazing, and you should dig it up and finish it now! :)