16 Feb
2003
16 Feb
'03
10:51 a.m.
To the classiccmp DEC-heads: is the 3000 a good
starting point
for someone who's curious about VAXen? If not, why not, and
what would be a better place to begin?
If you want to get started with VAXen, any flavor of VAXstation
3100 would be a great place to start. A basic VS3100 (aka model 30)
would be an adequate, very cheap way to start. They'll do everything
you'd need to begin learning about the VAX and VMS, Ultrix, or *BSD.
These early models are limited in terms of expansion and speed by
current standards, however, and if you have the money or opportunity
you might want to look for something faster like a VS3100 m76, or
any VS4000.
To learn more about the different VAX models, I'd take a look at
the NetBSD/VAX page http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/vax and look into the
different model descriptions.
To get licenses and media for running VMS, go to the DECUS/Encompass
OpenVMS Hobbyist Pages at http://www.montagar.com/hobbyist/index.html
You'll have to join Encompass, but that's free. And you'll need the
serial number from your VAX/Alpha.
If you check the archives for this mailing list, or hit Google Groups
archives for comp.sys.dec and comp.os.vms, you'll find all kinds of
info and links to web sites.
Good luck, and have fun!
--Steve.