Path: csiph.com!weretis.net!feeder8.news.weretis.net!newsfeed.xs3.de!nntp-feed.chiark.greenend.org.uk!ewrotcd!news.xcski.com!news.neurotica.com!.POSTED.gw.neurotica.com!not-for-mail From: Dave McGuire Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec Subject: Re: Considering the idea of saving up for a DECstation PMAX Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2025 22:06:41 -0400 Organization: LSSM Message-ID: References: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Injection-Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2025 02:06:42 -0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: mail.neurotica.com; posting-host="gw.neurotica.com:50.73.179.1"; logging-data="59077"; mail-complaints-to="usenet@mail.neurotica.com" User-Agent: Betterbird (Linux) Content-Language: en-US In-Reply-To: Xref: csiph.com comp.sys.dec:4280 On 3/29/25 21:24, TronNerd82 wrote: > I think it'd be fun to pick up an old PMAX DECstation 3100 and try to > get it working (though anything DEC put out was built like a tank, so I > probably wouldn't have much of any work to do) and try getting a modern > operating system on it like NetBSD, perhaps even try porting Slackware > to it. > > The whole idea is nothing particularly outstanding, but I think old DEC > hardware is super cool. Would it be a worthwhile endeavor?? I think so. I've done a lot with those machines over the years; in the 1990s I ran DNS servers, mail servers, etc on them both at home and at work. They're great little machines. At LSSM we have quite a few of them, though none are yet on exhibit. Sometime this summer we'll put a 3100 and probably a 5000/260 on the exhibit floor, in multi-boot configurations with Ultrix and NetBSD. I say go for it. They really are nice little machines. Beware of dried-out or leaky capacitors in the power supply. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, President/Curator Large Scale Systems Museum New Kensington, PA