There's something just, I don't know, wrong about the complaint that IRIX is a dead end on this list. Discontinued, yes, but so is DOMAIN, TSB, OS/8, CP/M ... and yet those machines are still collected/used/discussed here. At this point, VAX OpenVMS is at roughly the same position as IRIX- no new hardware and no major upgrades to VMS. IRIX will be "unofficially supported" by usergroups for quite a while yet-just look at Nekoware. They're still very well made machines, and IRIX has its quirks, but it is a good, stable UNIX implementation (and Indigo Magic is a pretty good UI). I suppose the collectors will get to them (SGI does have a reputation), but for now I'm happy that it's predominantly hobbyists- machines are cheaper that way. I haven't been able to afford a PDP-11, but I have several IRISes. Just think of yourself as being at the forefront.