25 May
2010
25 May
'10
8:04 p.m.
Liam Proven wrote:
I do use emulators sometimes, but it's not the
same. I like the feel
and the sounds and smells and so on of running real hardware, and I
enjoy the feeling of using something that is a bit different, not just
another x86 PC in a world with billions of the things.
Are there many other hobby users of emulators, especially the PDP-11, who
find that they enjoy just running the same old software as opposed the what
Liam describes as his preference for "real Hardware"?
Aside from the power (and often the extra air conditioning) required to run
my old PDP-11/83, there is also the fact that even on a Pentium III, the CPU
is about 15 times as fast and on the system I will eventually upgrade to
(Intel
E8200), the CPU is about 100 times as fast. In addition, a SATA II disk I/O
is about 200 times the speed of an ESDI hard drives or SCSI hard drives
connected to a Qbus. This is using Ersatz-11, of course, running RT-11.
The other advantage with Ersatz-11 is that I no longer have SIX!!! VT100
terminals on my desk. Just by using <ALT/Fn>, I have almost instant (less
than 1/10 second to switch to a different terminal using the same width)
access to TWELVE terminals. Since I find that I can't look at more than
one screen at a time, having all the screens displayed on one monitor
seems like a great solution.
YES!! There is something about using the original PDP-11/83 once or
twice a year, but I am very pleased when I return to what is now my normal
system to have almost unlimited storage capacity with 1 TB disk drives
that don't grind and squeal and the portion I actually use can be backed
up in about 10 minutes.
And how you
would keep the
original machine going if you don't ever want to repair it.
Unfortunately, as far as I know there are no repair services for classic
computers, so you virtually have to do it yourself.
I get that one a lot, but usually from people who actively enjoy
working on their vehicles. I detest it. I hate working with machinery,
hate getting my hands dirty, and don't trust my own meagre mechanical
skills. This is very hard for many an inveterate fiddler to
understand, though, it seems.
Similarly, with my motorbikes and bicycles, of
which I have a small
and ever-changing collection, I pay pros to keep them running well for
me. I hate getting dirty & scraping my knuckles repairing them, and
why should I?
I can think of one very good reason. Your life, and the lives of others,
depends on that work being done correctly. And having seen what some car
repairers -- even official dealers -- get up to, I wouldn't trust one, alas.
The idea that, for example, a group, club or society
should consult
its members for help, and if it doesn't, then it's flawed, is quite
bizarre to me.
Eh? Cam you please tell me what the point of the club is then, other than
to share the knowledge, experience, whatever of the members?