29 Jun
2001
29 Jun
'01
12:46 p.m.
But that isn't really the point of this message.
The point was made on a
previous note about a ConDist set that it had VMS 6.0 which wasn't a "good"
version of VMS because it was fairly buggy. That made me wonder if we could
come to a concensus on what "good" VMS releases were out there?
Currently all my VAXen are at V7.2 and I'm moving my Alpha's to V7.2-1H1
(with plans to move to V7.2-2 once it's available). Obviously part of what
it takes to have a "good" release is to have all the patches that you can
applied, and to keep current with what patches are available. Compaq has a
mailing list you can join for this. Trust me it's worth it. What I've not
been able to find is a list of recommended patches for specific release,
which is unfortunate as that would save a person a lot of trouble.
Once V7.3-1 is out, then I'll consider moving past V7.2-x.
I happen to like VMS 5.5-2H4 which was, I believe, the
last release in the
5.x line and thus pretty darn stable. It runs on pretty much every VAX and
uses the "Modern" license management facility that the Hobbyiest licenses
conform to. There is also a lot of software that runs on "5.5 and above" so
that is good too. Finally its the last release that calls itself VAX VMS
(rather than OpenVMS) which gives it a wonderful classic like feel.
One question. Where on earth did you get V5.5-2H4? I'm not 100% sure you
can even get V5.5-2 out of the Hobbyist V1 CD (if you're lucky enough to
have it). At the moment I've got one VAXstation 3100 on V5.5, but want to
replace it with a VAXstation 4000/60 running V5.5-2 (or V5.5-2H4 if
possible). Isn't V5.5-2H4 the Y2k update?
Then there is VMS 6.x, of which I've got images
for 6.1 and 6.2 (no 6.0 but
I opted to pass on the ConDist as well). Is there a release after 6.2 that
sits between it and the 7.x release? Given the shortness between 7.0 and
7.1 I'm going to guess that 7.0 had some serious issues and 7.2 which is
running on the VLC cluster seems quite stable. (using a patched UCX).
There are definite advantages to V6.2 in that you can a mixed
verson/architecure cluster with one of the following V6.2, V7.1, and V7.2.
Based both on the documentation and my personal experience V5.5 and 7.2
can't be mixed in a cluster (very, very bad things happen when this is
attempted).
V7.0 = Avoid
V7.1-2/Alpha & V7.1/VAX = OK
V7.2-1H1/Alpha & V7.2/VAX = OK
V7.3 = To new for me to try and I'm a hobbyist!
Thoughts? What was the best V4.x release? V3? Does
anyone have VMS 1.x and
if so what processors does it support? As I recall on the 780 at school it
looked a _lot_ like RSX-11M+ :-)
Unless I'm mistaken V1 probably only supports the VAX-11/780, and through V3
I'd guess only the VAX-11/7xx family is supported (in fact I believe this is
probably true for early V4 releases).
Oh, and as for anyone having V1, the question is, not only does anyone have
it, does anyone have the doc's. There was a survey about a year ago, and
about the oldest anyone had was V2 or V3 of the Doc sets.
As for V4.x which is supported on a wider range of processors (including,
IIRC, some 3100's) the trick is getting it.
Something else to consider. If you're running a MicroVAX II then V7.2 is
where you stop. With a VAX-11/725 you stop at V5.1 (or maybe V5.1-1, with
the rest of the VAX-11/7xx family, the VAXft family and the MicroVAX I you
stop at V6.2. It appears that V7.3 won't be the final stopping point for
any systems, at least I've been unable to find such information in the V7.3
SPD.
Something else you might have figured out, the Alpha gets releases which roll
up all the patchs, the VAX doesn't anymore. In about 4-5 years it's safe to
assume that the Alpha will be in the same state, and that the Itanium
releases will be getting all the attention.
Zane