> > > That would be downright silly, because they haven't EOLed the
> > > line...they've announced that the WILL EOL it, in what should be a
> > > couple of years.
> >
> > There is a lot of panic about the future EOL of the Alpha, with
> > a lot of people equating that to the end of OpenVMS, which is
> > wrong. This is just another architecture transition. I would
>
> Yup.
>
> > have preferred that the Alpha go on, but the real point is the
> > OS, not the CPU.
>
> Well, for some folks, maybe. If someone sticks me in a project with a
> crappy OS, I will find the source and fix it (unless it's Windoze, of
> course, but I don't consider that an OS!)...whereas if someone sticks
> me with a crappy processor, well, there's little one can do.
I meant the point is the OS (OpenVMS) and not the CPU (VAX, Alpha, IPF),
not the OS vs. the CPU in general.
> > I can see people trying to stock up spares ahead of the EOL,
> > though. It would be better to grab them while they are
> > plentiful and cheap than to wait until the EOL when people
> > will want to stockpile some of the items that will be harder
> > to get later.
>
> Good point. But the EOL is *years* away. Isn't this a little
> premature, even for the "careful folk"?
Not really. For some of the odd-ball stuff, the sooner the better
(just ask anyone that has to keep a VAX going that uses the Pro3x0-
based console).
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
On Jul 18, 21:56, Jarkko Teppo wrote:
> Quoting Pete Turnbull <pete(a)dunnington.u-net.com>:
>
> > On the subject of NeXTs, how do you get a NeXT to use standard files
> > (/etc/hosts, et al) instead of the netinfo stuff?
> What you may want to read is chapter 10 (Incorporating a NeXT Computer
> into a Mixed Network) from NeXT Network and System Administration.
Available
> on paper back and probably on your system disk as well.
I'll have a look for that. Any idea where I'd find it? I don't have any
paper manuals, but I do have several CDs.
> Man-pages on niload and nidump might help too. Honestly, I never remember
> how to do it so I just improvise and create a local NI hierarchy and
> use DNS for name resolution.
I read them, and realised they didn't tell me enough, mainly because I
don't understand the rest of it.
> The chapter did mention NIS (yp) so that *might* be an option.
No, NIS is *never* an option ;-)
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
On July 19, Zane H. Healy wrote:
> I've not been looking at the DEC gear recently, but last I did look the number
> of Alpha boardc and CPUs seemed to have gone down drastically. I think
> the supply is drying up. Seriously, unless you need 64-bit, or are like me
> and running OpenVMS, the question becomes, why? What you're going to be
> able to find and afford isn't going to be that fast compared to a
> Pentium III or IV Motherboard and processor which is likely to cost less.
I dunno, man. *I* sure won't run Intel-architecture machines.
I'd be seriously surprised if Alphas were drying up. There were a
LOT of them made. Machines of which there were far fewer, and that
are far older, can still be found readily.
Having no better explanation, I respectfully submit that this
"shortage" of Alpha hardware is due to random market fluctuations.
-Dave McGuire
> On July 20, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> > > Having no better explanation, I respectfully submit that this
> > > "shortage" of Alpha hardware is due to random market fluctuations.
> >
> > I wonder how much of it is due to businesses sucking up spares to keep
> > their real work going for the long term now that Compaq has EOLed the
> > line (prematurely, many would say!!)
>
> That would be downright silly, because they haven't EOLed the
> line...they've announced that the WILL EOL it, in what should be a
> couple of years.
There is a lot of panic about the future EOL of the Alpha, with
a lot of people equating that to the end of OpenVMS, which is
wrong. This is just another architecture transition. I would
have preferred that the Alpha go on, but the real point is the
OS, not the CPU.
I can see people trying to stock up spares ahead of the EOL,
though. It would be better to grab them while they are
plentiful and cheap than to wait until the EOL when people
will want to stockpile some of the items that will be harder
to get later.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
On July 20, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> > Having no better explanation, I respectfully submit that this
> > "shortage" of Alpha hardware is due to random market fluctuations.
>
> I wonder how much of it is due to businesses sucking up spares to keep
> their real work going for the long term now that Compaq has EOLed the
> line (prematurely, many would say!!)
That would be downright silly, because they haven't EOLed the
line...they've announced that the WILL EOL it, in what should be a
couple of years.
-Dave McGuire
Hey Eric...
Yes, it'd be great to put together a learning system that way, IF the person
had the skill and determination to pull it off. This very scenario is why I
suggested (back on Sunday I think) that a good way to go would be to pick up
a 68HC11 Evaluation Board (EVBU or EVM). My EVBU (which is currently built
into a little robot) already HAS:
- serial port
- monitor & assembler/disassembler program (Buffalo)
- 1k EEPROM
- wire wrap area
- real-time clock
- assembler & download software
- five ports:
A - pulse counters or general I/O
B - parallel output or address selection if using ext. RAM/ROM
C - parallel I/O or address/data port if using ext. RAM/ROM
D - two comm ports or general I/O
E - eight analog inputs or general inputs
Joel A. Weder
jweder(a)telusplanet.net
403-556-4020
Well, I didn't find a Symbolics LispM nor did I find a -64 Mustang but I
did find Programming the PET/CBM by West and Pet/CBM Personal Computer
Guide by Adam Osborne and Carrol S. Donahue. I also found a Simon's Basic
module + Docs.
Programming the PET/CBM was an especially nice find, since the only
version I had previously was an old photocopy and the book is in
mint condition.
Now I can probably get enough motivation to actually fix my 3040 (or was it
4040). Still looking for that Mustang.
--
jht
I recently acquired a load of 9 track tapes from eBay. What a deal, I only
paid 1 cent for a trunk load of tapes. In there, I found an original DEC
RSX11M+ (3.0) distribution, several DECUS RSX SIG tapes from the fall of
1981 to the spring of 1987 and a bunch of other miscellaneous tapes!
I put a list of most of the tapes up on my www site:
http://www.dadaboom.com/pdp11/software/tapes.html .
If copies are not available elsewhere, I was planning on duping the RSX SIG
tapes and putting them up on my www site. I won't be putting the RSX
distribution online due to the copyright infringement problems :-(
Now the questions
1.) Would having the tapes on-line be useful?
2.) If so, what's the best way to dup them and make them available for
download?
I have a PDP-11 running RT-11 (v5.03) and a uVAX-III running VMS v5.5. I can
hook my 9 track tape drive (TS05) up to either of them. I'd bet VMS would be
the better bet, but I'm not sure about the best way to dup them so that they
would be useful for the rest of the world.
Help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bill
> I might be interested in a PC164 and CPU, if you have a spare...
I don't have any spare CPUs, but you can generally find those
on eBay.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
> > I've got a few spare Alpha motherboards sitting around.
> > I've got PC164, EB164, and PC64 motherboards. If anyone
> > needs any as a spare, let me know.
>
> What are the differences? I have a "noname" board, AT form-factor. I think
> it's the AXPPci133 or something similar. I got it running *BSD off of the
> SCSI port a long time ago and haven't done much with it in the past year.
The PC164 supports the 21164A, the EB164 supports the 21164, and the
PC64 supports the 21064A.
> Thought about trying to follow those instructions for loading OpenVMS. It's
> really low on the priority scale.
I installed OpenVMS on my Multia and added it to my cluster,
but one of the patches broke something and the Multia quit
being able to boot into the cluster. I later upgraded to
V7.2-1 and the Multia patch doesn't work with that version.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
