I think the whole point of the effort was catching up quickly through cloning (much the same strategy as Japan after WW2, or more recently China), and not creating incompatible technology which would ultimately be a dead-end. For instance, a home-grown, incompatible CPU that's only used in one country didn't make sense back then just as today. That's also the reason why the Z80 was chosen over the 6502, it was all about enabling compatibility with CP/M software.
But although the basic chips were cloned, at least some of the actual computers that were build with those chips were not clones of existing Western computer designs, partly because many Western home computers had highly integrated custom chips to make mass production cheaper, which was out-of-question for Eastern computer designs.
>and not creating incompatible technology which would ultimately be a dead-end.
Why would the tech be a dead end if the Soviets won the cold war?
I really don't understand how I'm the one spouting any idolatry at all. No idea what that even means. I just think the argument is facile, and see no real grounds for believing it.
I do understand that you're attacking me though, in spite of me trying to understand your position. Not sure why I deserve that for politely disagreeing, but here we are.
So uh. Just so you know? It's not my position you're trying to dunk on while trying to not understand it. I don't particularly agree with the poster to whom you replied. I think you're being disingenuous and that you're kinda being a jerk. That's different, and that's worse.
And I did not say "idolatry". If I had meant idolatry, I would have said it.
I think even the most die-hard communists didn't have any illusions about beating the West economically since at least the mid-sixties. It was merely about dragging along as long as possible while not falling behind too much.
Making an incompatible system just because would have meant lagging further behind, since they couldn't profit as much from the experience that went into the tech cloned. That's why copying made sense.
What would their computing have looked like without the west?