decserver 550 in Kansas City

----- Original Message ----- From: "Zane H. Healy" &lt;healyzh(a)aracnet.com&gt; To: &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2003 4:36 PM Subject: Re: decserver 550 in Kansas City <SNIP> Zane, I would suspect that BSD is because it is FREE, multi-user, and multi-tasking. RT-11, RSX, etc. aren't free. I managed to purchase a RT-11 license back when I worked for a DEC OEM. We made MIL-STD 1553 data bus controllers and sold a complete testing station built around both QBUS and UNIBUS machines. In fact, I wrote the drivers for both RT-11 and VMS that were provided with the systems. As best as I recall, I paid $800+ for the full RT-11, which was, as I remember, about my company's cost. I think retail was and sill is about $1500. I didn't get any manuals, but didn't need them as I had access at work. As for myself, my first choice for running on an 11/53 built out of a DECserver 550, which I am currently doing, would be TSX Plus over RT-11. Too bad about that, huh - I'm not paying for TSX Plus for use in a hobby. RT-11 I have. I MAY try the BSD, as I never played with it in its day. It could even be educational! I'm still kicking myself over the $3,500 I spent on SCO Open Desktop Developers kit, PLUS $500 to join their developers program so that I could get the OS and tools AT THAT PRICE!!! Linux is MUCH more stable and is downloadable for zilch. The (GCC) compiler doesn't dump core if you try to get a listing either, unlike the SCO (Microsoft) compiler. Regards, Stuart Johnson