February 2019 - vcf-midatlantic

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Last call for Group Unix Exhibit
by Kenneth Seefried 23 Feb '19

23 Feb '19

From: Andrew Diller <dillera(a)gmail.com> > I recall reading that the Atari SVR5 required a special monitor - or am I > mixing that up with the Amiga SVR5 UNIX? There was no Atari or Amiga SVR5. SVR5 was an SCO thing on x86. You're thinking of SVR4. KJ

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OT: Chromebook free to good home
by Evan Koblentz 23 Feb '19

23 Feb '19

Two people here in the group chipped in and gifted me a new Chromebook that can run Linux and Android apps (nifty!), so I'm paying it forward: my old (2014) Chromebook should go to a good home. It works perfectly; it's just slightly less capable. Lightweight, awesome battery life, closest thing that exists today to a Tandy Model 100. One request: I want it to go to someone who needs it, not just someone who is curious about them but has plenty of resources. Email me off-list.

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Silverball Arcade - VCF East 2019 after Saturday dinner
by Jeffrey Brace 22 Feb '19

22 Feb '19

I'm organizing a group that want to go to the silverball arcade for an hour after the Saturday dinner. I've arranged for a 20% discount if we get a group of 10 or more people. We will meet at around 9:15pm on 5/4 after the Saturday dinner. If you are interested, then send me a private email. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Last call for Group Unix Exhibit
by dillera＠gmail.com 22 Feb '19

22 Feb '19

Hello - if you are interested in being part of a group Unix Exhibit with linked tables please put some info in this sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1A1z62SaxF6IrwkiFUVIxcjxWOmWrcvLxDJK… <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1A1z62SaxF6IrwkiFUVIxcjxWOmWrcvLxDJK…> I'll be getting tables at the end of this week and we'll need your info if you want to be involved in this group. thanks, -andy diller

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Warehouse report
by Evan Koblentz 22 Feb '19

22 Feb '19

Steve Edwards and I did warehouse work for about 4 solid hours this afternoon/evening. We continued the book-paring project. We cleared off two or three full pallets of book boxes, divided the contents into keep vs. sell piles, and tossed a few that were in poor condition. The sell pile is for VCF East, but workshop attendees are welcome to first dibs. (These are different than the books that remained after Festivus: we recently sold those in bulk to a single party.) We consolidated the 'keep' books into standard-size boxes and put them all onto the usual warehouse shelving. Results: lots of newly cleared floor space!!! For the next book-sorting session, it will be much easier to work without a bunch of stuff in the way. All told, I estimate that we pared the book collection by about 30-40 boxes since we started this project a while ago, and there's still a lot more to go. -- Evan Koblentz, executive director Vintage Computer Federation www.vcfed.org evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 VCF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Last call for Group Unix Exhibit
by Ethan Dicks 21 Feb '19

21 Feb '19

On Thu, Feb 21, 2019 at 12:29 PM Brian L. Stuart via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > I haven't really decided for sure about what I want to > exhibit this year. One option I've been considering is > to set up one of Oscar's PiDP-11 model PDP-11/70s > running 6ed UNIX to show some about early UNIX. > Would there be interest in such an exhibit and would > it be welcome in the group UNIX Exhibi Let me preface my answer by saying that I've been Oscar's neighbor at VCF East and VCF Midwest, I built a PiDP-8, I helped with refining the toggle switch design on the PiDP-11, and I have a PiDP-11 enroute right now. That said, I think an early UNIX is a good idea but I'm less sold on doing it by means of simulation. Here's a list of supported hardware for 5th ed forward https://minnie.tuhs.org/PUPS/pupsfaq.html#pdp_versions If I had a known-good Unibus PDP-11, I'd seriously consider putting together my own 1970s UNIX box, but I'm still in the middle of going through a pile of PDP-11/04 and PDP-11/34 hardware and haven't yet gotten past what seems to be a slightly-broken BA-11L/front panel situation. I don't happen to have an 11/40 or 11/45 and an 11/70 won't fit in my Saturn wagon (newer stuff like an 11/23 is much easier to put together) My own goal has been for a while to show PDP-11 UNIX on early hardware for the 50th anniversary of UNIX on the PDP-11 (this year is the anniversary on the PDP-7). My target is 1st ed/2nd ed UNIX (as preserved by Warren Toomey) on an 11/20, which will take some additional time to restore and is out of scope for this year. The biggest hurdle for anything pre-7th ed is disk. Later UNIX editions (v7, 2.9BSD, 2.11BSD...) support 1980s disks like the RL02 or MSCP which are far, far easier to keep running. If someone wanted to put together an 11/34 w/128Kw (preferably with FP11-A floating point) and an RK11/RK05, that might make a viable v6 platform. I have all that gear but am hesitant to promise I can ensure it's all 100% functional by May. I can do it down the road but the time is tight right now. Keeping desktop-sized stuff running is a lot easier than big boxes. The time required does not scale linearly. So, yes, I think it would be great to have early UNIX but I'm in it for the hardware. -ethan

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Exhibit ideas - help needed to choose
by Andrew Diller 21 Feb '19

21 Feb '19

> On Feb 21, 2019, at 3:26 PM, W. Bryan Caudle via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > From: "W. Bryan Caudle" <bcaudle(a)ctsi.net> > Subject: Exhibit ideas - help needed to choose > Date: February 21, 2019 at 3:26:25 PM EST > To: "vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org" <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> > > > Another idea was a separate display highlighting some games running on business machines. Imagine 2 or 3 terminals (maybe even a Decwriter) connected to VAX, PDP11, Xenix, etc running some text adventures and such. > I am also working on this- getting a MUD working on my SGI Personal Iris with a few terminals connected to it so people can login and play in the mud together. If you have a cool terminal to bring put it on the list if you can bring it. I'm also planning on having some early unixs running via SIMH emulation on a mac and try connecting them to as many serial terminals as I can- having a display on the evoltion of unix will be of interest I think this year. -andy

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Last call for Group Unix Exhibit
by Ethan O'Toole 21 Feb '19

21 Feb '19

> > > [NON-Text Body part not included] Hmp for some reason your message doesn't quote. Okay, so that board seems cool but not willing to spend $165+ on it. I just found this one: https://shop.inventronik.de/index.php?id_product=28&controller=product&id_l… That is about $50 USD shipped from Germany. That should do the same? If so I will order that and probably buy a SCSI2SD for the TT030 as well. - Ethan

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Last call for Group Unix Exhibit
by David Gesswein 21 Feb '19

21 Feb '19

> > Having said that, I could pull out a 3b1, but I'm pretty sure > someone else is already doing that, and the early research > UNIX is a lot more interesting to me than the commercial. > It was one of the machines I offered to bring but I've brought it before. Since I will also have a PDP-8 exhibit this year so if anybody else wants to bring something I have offered they can bring it instead. > The truth is the part that I would find most interesting is > a deep dive into Lions' commentary on the 6th ed kernel, > but I don't know how to make an exhibit of that where > it wouldn't just be a poster session. > But could go along with the emulation where you go over the implementation choices and how it differs from later Unix's and people can see the differences. Its hard to be both educational and a crowd pleaser. I sort of alternate those types of exhibits.

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Exhibit ideas - help needed to choose
by W. Bryan Caudle 21 Feb '19

21 Feb '19

Good afternoon! I had recently joined this list and was interested in making some contribution to the exhibits at the upcoming VCF-East event. I had a few ideas, and was hoping to get some feedback before applying. One thought was that I could contribute to the group Unix exhibit. It looks like there are a large variety of systems already on the list, but I could contribute my Tandy 12/6000 running Xenix and an SGI O2 running Irix. I could also contribute a Wyse 60 and VT-220 terminal, some software, and publications (I have some of those giant SCO boxes full of books and stuff). Another idea was a separate display highlighting some games running on business machines. Imagine 2 or 3 terminals (maybe even a Decwriter) connected to VAX, PDP11, Xenix, etc running some text adventures and such. Finally, I was thinking about a display centered around the 68000 CPU (40 years since introduction). It would include many classic systems, and I have a whole library of 68000 family data books and developer materials. Suggestions welcome, and if none of these ideas sound good I'm ok with that too :-)

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