11 Feb
2017
11 Feb
'17
10:08 a.m.
From: Paul Koning
> When did V7 come out, BTW?
The files on the SYSGEN tape have a timestamp of
26-Sep-79, so "Fall
1979" sounds right.
Ow. I was looking for something a lot earlier than that. I used RSTS-11 in
the '72-'74 timeframe, so it's a version from that era I'd like to have.
Any
idea what version that would be - and if it's still extant?
I've used the V4A kit (DECtapes) to build that ...
(There's a V4A
sysgen manual on Bitsavers too ...)
When was that one?
> It would be really nice to have sources - are they
gone forever?
Some still exist. I know someone who has a RSTS source
kit, not sure
which version. I have pieces of source.
OK, better than nothing.
A complication with all of this is the question of
licensing. There's a
hobbyist license for RSTS to build and run it, but whether that carries
over to making sources available is an interesting question. I'm not
sure who to ask these days, either.
Hmm. I guess technically HP owns it now?
Noel
11 Feb
11 Feb
10:48 a.m.
________________________________________
From: cctalk [cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] on behalf of Noel Chiappa [jnc at
mercury.lcs.mit.edu]
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2017 10:08 AM
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Cc: jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu
Subject: Re: RSTS V7 magtape images on bitsavers
From: Paul Koning
> When did V7 come out, BTW?
The files on the SYSGEN tape have a timestamp of
26-Sep-79, so "Fall
1979" sounds right.
Ow. I was looking for something a lot earlier than that. I used RSTS-11 in
the '72-'74 timeframe, so it's a version from that era I'd like to have.
Any
idea what version that would be - and if it's still extant?
I've used the V4A kit (DECtapes) to build that ...
(There's a V4A
sysgen manual on Bitsavers too ...)
When was that one?
> It would be really nice to have sources - are they
gone forever?
Some still exist. I know someone who has a RSTS source
kit, not sure
which version. I have pieces of source.
OK, better than nothing.
A complication with all of this is the question of
licensing. There's a
hobbyist license for RSTS to build and run it, but whether that carries
over to making sources available is an interesting question. I'm not
sure who to ask these days, either.
Hmm. I guess technically HP owns it now?
Noel
______________________________________________________
Not so sure of that. When Mentec went away the word was that some other
party had bought all of the old PDP-11 OSes (except maybe IAS) but I have
heard nothing about it in several years and fear a lot of it may now have
become lost. It certainly isn't being held in secret because of some percieved
commercial value.
RSTS was my favorite PDP-11 OS and I have long wanted to see it Open
Sourced in its demise as I always wanted to try porting it to other machines
just for the fun of it.
bill
12:30 p.m.
________________________________________
From: cctalk [cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] on behalf of js at cimmeri.com [js at
cimmeri.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2017 10:51 AM
To: General at classiccmp.org; Discussion@
Subject: Re: RSTS V7 magtape images on bitsavers
On 2/11/2017 10:48 AM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
RSTS was my favorite PDP-11 OS and I have long wanted
to see it Open
Sourced in its demise as I always wanted to try porting it to other machines
just for the fun of it.
bill
I'm curious -- what made it your favourite, Bill?
- J.
__________________________________________________
Don't really know. I just liked it. Even with all my Unix backgrounbd I have
always had a penchant for some of the more obscure OSes. I liked Primos,
too.
bill
11:20 a.m.
On Feb 11, 2017, at 10:48 AM, Bill Gunshannon
<bill.gunshannon at hotmail.com> wrote:
...
You're probably thinking of XX2247 LLC, which apparently is the successor to Mentec.
But I remember some discussion about what Mentec actually owned vs. what DEC/Compaq/HP
retained. Or maybe I'm mixed up with the company that now works on VMS.
paul
A complication with all of this is the question
of licensing. There's a
hobbyist license for RSTS to build and run it, but whether that carries
over to making sources available is an interesting question. I'm not
sure who to ask these days, either.
Hmm. I guess technically HP owns it now?
Noel
______________________________________________________
Not so sure of that. When Mentec went away the word was that some other
party had bought all of the old PDP-11 OSes (except maybe IAS) but I have
heard nothing about it in several years and fear a lot of it may now have
become lost. It certainly isn't being held in secret because of some percieved
commercial value.
11:13 a.m.
On Feb 11, 2017, at 10:08 AM, Noel Chiappa <jnc at
mercury.lcs.mit.edu> wrote:
That would most likely be the one you remember. "RSTS-11" was the name applied
to V4 and earlier. On Bitsavers, you can find a V4A kit and the related manuals; also
what looks like V3 which I have not tried. I should do that at some point.
paul
From: Paul Koning
> When did V7 come out, BTW?
The files on the SYSGEN tape have a timestamp of
26-Sep-79, so "Fall
1979" sounds right.
Ow. I was looking for something a lot earlier than that. I used RSTS-11 in
the '72-'74 timeframe, so it's a version from that era I'd like to have.
Any
idea what version that would be - and if it's still extant?
I've used the V4A kit (DECtapes) to build
that ... (There's a V4A
sysgen manual on Bitsavers too ...)
When was that one? 
12:12 p.m.
I have put RSTS-11 media, docs and install log at:
http://iamvirtual.ca/PDP-11/RSTS-11/Install.htm
--barrym
On Sat, Feb 11, 2017 at 8:08 AM, Noel Chiappa <jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu>
wrote:
From: Paul
Koning
> When did V7 come out, BTW?
The files on the SYSGEN tape have a timestamp of
26-Sep-79, so "Fall
1979" sounds right.
Ow. I was looking for something a lot earlier than that. I used RSTS-11 in
the '72-'74 timeframe, so it's a version from that era I'd like to have.
Any
idea what version that would be - and if it's still extant?
I've used the V4A kit (DECtapes) to build
that ... (There's a V4A
sysgen manual on Bitsavers too ...)
When was that one?
> It would be really nice to have sources - are
they gone forever?
Some still exist. I know someone who has a RSTS
source kit, not sure
which version. I have pieces of source.
OK, better than nothing.
A complication with all of this is the question
of licensing.
There's a
hobbyist license for RSTS to build and run it,
but whether that
carries
over to making sources available is an
interesting question. I'm not
sure who to ask these days, either.
Hmm. I guess technically HP owns it now?
Noel
2752
days inactive
2752
days old
6 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
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bill.gunshannon＠hotmail.com -
iamvirtual＠gmail.com -
jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu -
js＠cimmeri.com -
paulkoning＠comcast.net