MacProxy Plus (Sam's macOS 9 Mod)

An extensible HTTP proxy that connects early computers to the Internet.

This fork of MacProxy Plus that is optimized for use in macOS 9.2.2 Internet Explorer.

Demonstration Video of Original Project (on YouTube)

Extensions

Each extension has its own folder within the extensions directory. Extensions can be individually enabled or disabled via a config.py file in the root directory.

To enable extensions:

1. In the root directory, rename config.py.example to config.py :

   mv config.py.example config.py

2. In config.py, enable/disable extensions by uncommenting/commenting lines in the ENABLED_EXTENSIONS list:

   ENABLED_EXTENSIONS = [
   	#disabled_extension,
   	"enabled_extension"
   	]

Starting MacProxy Plus

On Unix-like systems (such as Linux or macOS), run the start_macproxy.sh script. It will create a Python virtual environment, install the required Python packages, and make the proxy server available on your local network.

./start_macproxy.sh

On Windows, run the analogous PowerShell script, start_macproxy.ps1:

.\start_macproxy.ps1

Connecting to MacProxy Plus from your Vintage Machine

To use MacProxy Plus, you'll need to configure your vintage browser or operating system to connect to the proxy server running on your host machine. The specific steps will vary depending on your browser and OS, but if your system lets you set a proxy server, it should work.

If you're using a BlueSCSI to get a vintage Mac online, this guide should help with the initial Internet setup.


Example: Configuring proxy settings in MacWeb 2.0c+

Example Extension: ChatGPT

A ChatGPT extension is provided as an example. This extension serves a simple web interface that lets users interact with OpenAI's GPT models.

To enable the ChatGPT extension, open config.py, uncomment the chatgpt line in the ENABLED_EXTENSIONS list, and replace YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY_HERE with your actual OpenAI API key.

open_ai_api_key = "YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY_HERE"

ENABLED_EXTENSIONS = [
	"chatgpt"
]

Once enabled, Macproxy will reroute requests to http://chatgpt.com to this inteface.

Other Extensions

Claude (Anthropic)

For the discerning LLM connoisseur.

Weather

Get the forecast for any zip code in the US.

Wikipedia

Read any of over 6 million encyclopedia articles - complete with clickable links and search function.

Reddit

Browse any subreddit or the Reddit homepage, with support for nested comments and downloadable images... in dithered black and white.

WayBack Machine

Enter any date between January 1st, 1996 and today, then browse the web as it existed at that point in time. Includes full download support for images and other files backed up by the Internet Archive.

Web Simulator

Type a URL that doesn't exist into the address bar, and Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet will interpret the domain and any query parameters to generate an imagined version of that page on the fly. Each HTTP request is serialized and sent to the AI, along with the full HTML of the last 3 pages you visited, allowing you to explore a vast, interconnected, alternate reality Internet where the only limit is your imagination.

(not) YouTube

A legally distinct parody of YouTube, which uses the fantastic homebrew application MacFlim (created by Fred Stark) or ffmpeg for the OS 9 version to re-encode video files.

Hackaday

A pared-down, text-only version of hackaday.com, complete with articles, comments, and search functionality.

npr.org

Serves articles from the text-only version of the site (text.npr.org) and transforms relative urls into absolute urls for compatibility with MacWeb 2.0.

wiby.me

Browse Wiby's collection of personal, handmade webpages (fixes an issue where clicking "surprise me..." would not redirect users to their final destination).

Future Work

• more extensions for more sites
• presets targeting specific vintage machines/browsers
• wiki with how-to guides for different machines

Happy Surfing 😎