Dont want to start a flame war here but

Bruce, I have a MicroVax I I have been able to communicate to it using a terminal emulator into one of its serial ports. I believe it has VMS 4.X? loaded, But it has been too long since I last had it running. I was able to list devices, But now I forget the login process. I have always wanted to get more mainstream with a version Unix for this Box. What can you tell me of freeBSD Unix? What is it's distribution media? This unit has the 5.25 floppies, which I dont recall ever being able to boot (Only because I don't know VMS, nor do I know what programs or utilities I have on Floppy that are "Bootable"). Where do I start? Learn VMS or Learn hardware requirement for, and get FreeBSD? Hardware is rock solid. Sincerely Larry Truthan -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Lane [mailto:kyrrin@bluefeathertech.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 1999 9:41 AM To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers Subject: Re: Dont want to start a flame war here but At 23:21 15-11-1999 -0500, somebody wrote: mainframes?? m wha <snip> You seem to be under the mistaken impression that all minis and mainframes are huge monsters. While this may be true of most mainframes, and some minis, there are many that are not much bigger than a large tower PC. My reasons for collecting the beasties are, like Allison's, a mix of practical and a dislike of modern "commoditized" hardware that seems to be built specifically not be reparable at the component level. I have here mostly MicroVAX, MicroPDP, and some Sun SPARCs (not quite classics yet -- give it another year or so). The MicroVAXen run NetBSD (a free Unix OS) exceptionally well, are built like the proverbial tank, and are readily reparable in the rare event that something goes flooey. I have one MV III that will become my news and FTP server. Once NetBSD 1.5 gets released, it is likely that either one of my 3100's or the DECStation RISC box I have will become a mail server. Web will be handled either by another MV III or a Sun box. I've yet to decide for certain. The MicroPDP's I have are idle at the moment. I want to find a decent Unix load for them. Failing that, I will probably trade them off to one or more of my fellow list members for other goodies. Others have asked me why I don't just go with a bunch of PCs running Linux. The answer is 'Robustness.' While some PCs have gotten much more reliable, hardware-wise, I've yet to see any such system that's built to the same standards as the DEC hardware. Even Sun, in many cases, makes use of more plastic than I'd usually prefer to see. Technical and design excellence is a top priority with me, even if it costs a little more to use or the rest of the world has abandoned it. Case in point: My cellphone is an older Motorola 'flip' style, one of their first-generation digital TDMA units. It only works digital on AT&T's network, hasn't been manufactured for several years, and lacks the fancy LCD and whizzy features of the modern units. HOWEVER -- it's built very well, and it fits my hand and face far better than any of the "toy" cellphones being pushed by the resellers. BTW, off-topic, but if anyone knows of a "sports" or "rugged duty" cellphone, I'd sure like to hear about it. None of the "smaller and lighter" craze units I've seen even come close. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies http://www.bluefeathertech.com // E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com Amateur Radio: WD6EOS since Dec. '77 "Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."