22 Jun
2000
22 Jun
'00
3:11 p.m.
All this talk about RT-11, RSX-11M,RSTS/E licensing
details is making me
wonder. If I acquired a PDP-11 of some kind, and it came with RSX-11M and/or
RT-11 and or/ RSTS/E, would I have to have a license? I know a license is
legally required, but is it essential in running the OS? Does the OS have
any way of checking for one? What is required for running the OS? I really
don't know anything about the PDP-11 family.
The OS has no way of checking for one (unlike VMS). However, you might have
trouble finding the OS without the license. You will also need to pay extra
for the source code. (There may be an uncommented source code distribution
which you can use to reassemble the OS but doesn't count as the licensed
source.)
I'm sure some of the PDP-11 experts know a lot more about this than I do.
-- Derek