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So, I have returned to the fold.

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  So, I have returned to the fold. Dave Shevett <shevett@pobox.com> - 2026-10-26 02:59 +0000
    Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-10-26 03:29 +0000
      Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Dave Shevett <shevett@pobox.com> - 2026-10-26 13:53 +0000
    Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-10-26 08:39 +0000
    Re: So, I have returned to the fold. "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2026-10-26 20:17 +0100
      Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Dave Shevett <shevett@pobox.com> - 2026-10-27 01:13 +0000
        Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-10-28 14:38 +0800
          Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Dave Shevett <shevett@pobox.com> - 2026-10-30 13:27 +0000
            Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-10-30 13:35 +0000
            Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-10-30 21:36 +0800
            Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-10-30 22:49 +0000
              Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Dave Shevett <shevett@pobox.com> - 2026-11-01 02:17 +0000
                Re: So, I have returned to the fold. mechanicjay@sol.smbfc.net (Mechanicjay) - 2026-11-02 01:24 +0000
            Re: So, I have returned to the fold. mechanicjay@sol.smbfc.net (Mechanicjay) - 2026-10-31 04:45 +0000
              Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-10-31 05:48 +0000
                Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2026-10-31 19:54 -0400
                Re: So, I have returned to the fold. John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-11-02 08:34 -0800
              Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Dave Shevett <shevett@pobox.com> - 2026-11-01 15:21 +0000
        Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-10-28 10:56 +0000
    Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Daniel <me@fuhgitabutit.com> - 2026-11-04 19:25 -0800
      Re: So, I have returned to the fold. rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-11-05 06:30 +0000
        Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-11-05 14:54 +0800
          Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-11-05 07:32 -0700
            Re: So, I have returned to the fold. Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-11-05 19:17 +0000

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#236084 — So, I have returned to the fold.

Forgive me usenet, for I have sinned.

It has been 20 years since I posted.  All had gone dark, I was in a place 
of shadow and sadness.

I'm weak and weary now, the bones creak, the colors fade, but the fans 
still spin, the disks do rattle, the network lights do blink.

Sup, ya'll?

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#236085

On 2026-10-26, Dave Shevett <shevett@pobox.com> wrote:

> Forgive me usenet, for I have sinned.
>
> It has been 20 years since I posted.  All had gone dark, I was in a place 
> of shadow and sadness.
>
> I'm weak and weary now, the bones creak, the colors fade, but the fans 
> still spin, the disks do rattle, the network lights do blink.
>
> Sup, ya'll?

Hang out for a while, you'll find out soon enough.

Welcome back.

-- 
/~\  Charlie Gibbs                  |  In this world there are
\ /  <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid>      |  two kinds of people:
 X   I'm really at ac.dekanfrus     |  1. Those who can extrapolate
/ \  if you read it the right way.  |  from incomplete data.

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#236101

On Mon, 26 Oct 2026 03:29:26 GMT, Charlie Gibbs wrote:

> On 2026-10-26, Dave Shevett <shevett@pobox.com> wrote:
>> Sup, ya'll?
> 
> Hang out for a while, you'll find out soon enough.

"I'm at your service, sir.  I have been looking for you"
"I'm getting nervous, sir."

> Welcome back.

ty.

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#236091

On 2026-10-26, Dave Shevett wrote:

> Forgive me usenet, for I have sinned.
>
> It has been 20 years since I posted.  All had gone dark, I was in a place 
> of shadow and sadness.
>
> I'm weak and weary now, the bones creak, the colors fade, but the fans 
> still spin, the disks do rattle, the network lights do blink.
>
> Sup, ya'll?

The web is in a state that is almost like the 90s, except that now the
features that require specific browsers also require powerful rigs with
CPU and GPU power just to display some text.

"Smart"phones are so locked down that a Windows 4 install would be much
more powerful.

Hey, at least one can argue that Google stopping the peering a couple
years ago means we've finally moved on into October 1993, where (when?)
are we now, 1995?

-- 
Nuno Silva

(Who has not experienced these earlier years of September 1993.)

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#236111

On Mon, 26 Oct 2026 02:59:31 -0000 (UTC), Dave Shevett wrote:

> Forgive me usenet, for I have sinned.
> 
> It has been 20 years since I posted.  All had gone dark, I was in a place 
> of shadow and sadness.
> 
> I'm weak and weary now, the bones creak, the colors fade, but the fans 
> still spin, the disks do rattle, the network lights do blink.
> 
> Sup, ya'll?

You know Google Groups is out, yes?

-- 
Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae.
		- Julius Caesar

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#236148

On Mon, 26 Oct 2026 20:17:17 +0100, s|b wrote:

> On Mon, 26 Oct 2026 02:59:31 -0000 (UTC), Dave Shevett wrote:
> 
>> Forgive me usenet, for I have sinned.
>> 
>> It has been 20 years since I posted.  All had gone dark, I was in a
>> place of shadow and sadness.
>> 
>> I'm weak and weary now, the bones creak, the colors fade, but the fans
>> still spin, the disks do rattle, the network lights do blink.
>> 
>> Sup, ya'll?
> 
> You know Google Groups is out, yes?

Yaazzzz.  My "i am learning all that happened" scope says that when Groups 
detached from Usenet it returned to some semblance of sanity.

I guess what I'm trying to do now is find out if what is reborn now can be 
a community I can hang in and be my nerdself and look forward to seeing 
ya'll in.

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#236189

On 10/27/2026 9:13 AM, Dave Shevett wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Oct 2026 20:17:17 +0100, s|b wrote:
> 
>> On Mon, 26 Oct 2026 02:59:31 -0000 (UTC), Dave Shevett wrote:
>>
>>> Forgive me usenet, for I have sinned.
>>>
>>> It has been 20 years since I posted.  All had gone dark, I was in a
>>> place of shadow and sadness.
>>>
>>> I'm weak and weary now, the bones creak, the colors fade, but the fans
>>> still spin, the disks do rattle, the network lights do blink.
>>>
>>> Sup, ya'll?
>>
>> You know Google Groups is out, yes?
> 
> Yaazzzz.  My "i am learning all that happened" scope says that when Groups
> detached from Usenet it returned to some semblance of sanity.

It did that, yes.

> 
> I guess what I'm trying to do now is find out if what is reborn now can be
> a community I can hang in and be my nerdself and look forward to seeing
> ya'll in.

Welcome to alt.folklore.computers.  Here we seem to mostly talk about
VAXen, so how's your VAX?  I presume you have one.
-- 
Johann | email: invalid -> com | http://www.myrkraverk.com/blog/
I'm not from the Internet, I just work there. | via Easynews.com
https://bsky.app/profile/myrkraverk.bsky.social | for ( ;; ) _:;
Federated at https://fed.brid.gy/bsky/myrkraverk.bsky.social

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#236236

On Wed, 28 Oct 2026 14:38:52 +0800, Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson wrote:

>> I guess what I'm trying to do now is find out if what is reborn now can
>> be a community I can hang in and be my nerdself and look forward to
>> seeing ya'll in.
> 
> Welcome to alt.folklore.computers.  Here we seem to mostly talk about
> VAXen, so how's your VAX?  I presume you have one.

I do not in fact have a VAX.  I have 4 PDP11's (out in the dark reaches of 
youtube, there's a whole series of me restoring my PDP 11/73+ back to 
bootability and useability.)

I have an Alpha!  Does that count?

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#236237

Dave Shevett wrote:

> Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson wrote:
> 
>>> how's your VAX?  I presume you have one.

I have a VAXserver 3300

> I have an Alpha!

I used to have an ALPHAserver 2100, but it took too much houseroom

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#236238

On 10/30/2026 9:27 PM, Dave Shevett wrote:
> On Wed, 28 Oct 2026 14:38:52 +0800, Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson wrote:
> 
>>> I guess what I'm trying to do now is find out if what is reborn now can
>>> be a community I can hang in and be my nerdself and look forward to
>>> seeing ya'll in.
>>
>> Welcome to alt.folklore.computers.  Here we seem to mostly talk about
>> VAXen, so how's your VAX?  I presume you have one.
> 
> I do not in fact have a VAX.  I have 4 PDP11's (out in the dark reaches of
> youtube, there's a whole series of me restoring my PDP 11/73+ back to
> bootability and useability.)
> 
> I have an Alpha!  Does that count?

It's a step in the right direction.  I have dreams of setting up a VAX-
station 4000 some day.

But have not had the pleasure of dealing with an Alpha, yet; nor a PDP-
11.


Best wishes, and happy PDPs!
-- 
Johann | email: invalid -> com | http://www.myrkraverk.com/blog/
I'm not from the Internet, I just work there. | via Easynews.com
https://bsky.app/profile/myrkraverk.bsky.social | for ( ;; ) _:;
Federated at https://fed.brid.gy/bsky/myrkraverk.bsky.social

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#236248

On Fri, 30 Oct 2026 13:27:58 -0000 (UTC), Dave Shevett wrote:

> I have an Alpha!  Does that count?

An architecture which is still supported in the current Linux kernel,
decades after the last one was made??

Of course it counts. ;)

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#236269

On Fri, 30 Oct 2026 22:49:40 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

> On Fri, 30 Oct 2026 13:27:58 -0000 (UTC), Dave Shevett wrote:
> 
>> I have an Alpha!  Does that count?
> 
> An architecture which is still supported in the current Linux kernel,
> decades after the last one was made??
> 
> Of course it counts. ;)

_happy sounds_

I mean, in all openness, my Alpha is a hot mess.  It's an Alphaserver (so 
the big boxy thing) and is probably missing components.  I got it from a 
recycler and it's been sitting in my storage unit for a couple years.  
Honestly not sure what I'm going to do with it.

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#236284

On Sun, 1 Nov 2026 02:17:35 -0000 (UTC), Dave Shevett <shevett@pobox.com> wrote:
>On Fri, 30 Oct 2026 22:49:40 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 30 Oct 2026 13:27:58 -0000 (UTC), Dave Shevett wrote:
>> 
>>> I have an Alpha!  Does that count?
>> 
>> An architecture which is still supported in the current Linux kernel,
>> decades after the last one was made??
>> 
>> Of course it counts. ;)
>
>_happy sounds_
>
>I mean, in all openness, my Alpha is a hot mess.  It's an Alphaserver (so 
>the big boxy thing) and is probably missing components.  I got it from a 
>recycler and it's been sitting in my storage unit for a couple years.  
>Honestly not sure what I'm going to do with it.

I have my DS20 (Dual 500mhz EV6) running a current linux install (though I
borked the packaged manager about a year ago and have yet to fix it).

It's supprisingly not as slow as you'd think!


--
Sent from my Personal DECstation 5000/25

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#236253

On Fri, 30 Oct 2026 13:27:58 -0000, Dave Shevett <shevett@pobox.com> wrote:
>On Wed, 28 Oct 2026 14:38:52 +0800, Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson wrote:
>
>>> I guess what I'm trying to do now is find out if what is reborn now can
>>> be a community I can hang in and be my nerdself and look forward to
>>> seeing ya'll in.
>> 
>> Welcome to alt.folklore.computers.  Here we seem to mostly talk about
>> VAXen, so how's your VAX?  I presume you have one.
>
>I do not in fact have a VAX.  I have 4 PDP11's (out in the dark reaches of 
>youtube, there's a whole series of me restoring my PDP 11/73+ back to 
>bootability and useability.)
>
>I have an Alpha!  Does that count?

Heh, I just got my PDP 11/23 booted to RT-11 today.  It probably hasn't much of
anything in 20 years (judging by the service dates on the RL01 Drives).  

Welcome to you and your Alpha!

--
Sent from my Personal DECstation 5000/25

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#236255

On Sat, 31 Oct 2026 04:45:14 -0000 (UTC), Mechanicjay wrote:

> Heh, I just got my PDP 11/23 booted to RT-11 today. It probably
> hasn't much of anything in 20 years (judging by the service dates on
> the RL01 Drives).

Not sure if Dave Cutler had anything to do with RT-11, but he was
certainly involved with RSX-11, VAX/VMS, and then Windows NT.

Here he is in a chat with Microsoft alumnus Dave Plummer
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi1Lq79mLeE>. Notice that little box
behind him? That’s a PiDP-11. Yup, a replica case that looks like a
PDP-11, but with a Raspberry Pi running SIMH inside it.

A Raspberry Pi running Linux, running a PDP-11 emulator, which in turn
runs an authentic PDP-11 operating system -- any one of them you like.

Remember, Cutler was one of the nest of Unix-haters at DEC, and he
created Windows NT very much in that anti-Unix mould. I wonder if he
appreciated the irony in that meeting, that nowadays it takes a
Unix-type system, of the type he studiously avoided his entire career,
to bring life back into some of his historic creations.

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#236267

Lawrence =?iso-8859-13?q?D=FFOliveiro?= <ldo@nz.invalid> writes:

> On Sat, 31 Oct 2026 04:45:14 -0000 (UTC), Mechanicjay wrote:

>> Heh, I just got my PDP 11/23 booted to RT-11 today. It probably hasn't much
>> of anything in 20 years (judging by the service dates on the RL01 Drives).

> Not sure if Dave Cutler had anything to do with RT-11, but he was
> certainly involved with RSX-11, VAX/VMS, and then Windows NT.

I believe that Cutler went from DOS-11 to the RSX-11 group, and had nothing to
do with RT-11 or RSTS.

RSX-11 was of course a port from the PDP-15 (RSX-15), and went through 5
generations (RSX-11A, -11B, -11C, -11D, and IAS, which incorporated a number of
features from RSTS).  Cutler wanted a smaller operating system, so created
RSX-11M and RSX-11S (which was a runtime only system whose programs had tob e
handled by -11M).

RSX-11M is what informed early VMS, and thus Windows NT.

-- 
Rich Alderson					  news@alderson.users.panix.com
      Audendum est, et veritas investiganda; quam etiamsi non assequamur,
	  omnino tamen proprius, quam nunc sumus, ad eam perveniemus.
									--Galen

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#236315

On Sat, 31 Oct 2026 05:48:35 -0000 (UTC)
Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

> nowadays it takes a Unix-type system, of the type he studiously
> avoided his entire career, to bring life back into some of his
> historic creations.

Not necessarily. PDP-11 and VAX emulators are readily available for
Windows, and it's also completely possible to run both VMS and the
various -11 OSes on real hardware, as various models of LSI-11 and
MicroVAX are still available secondhand in good working order. They
really built 'em to last back then.

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#236276

On Sat, 31 Oct 2026 04:45:14 -0000 (UTC), Mechanicjay wrote:

> On Fri, 30 Oct 2026 13:27:58 -0000, Dave Shevett <shevett@pobox.com>
> wrote:
>>I do not in fact have a VAX.  I have 4 PDP11's (out in the dark reaches
>>of youtube, there's a whole series of me restoring my PDP 11/73+ back to
>>bootability and useability.)
> 
> Heh, I just got my PDP 11/23 booted to RT-11 today.  It probably hasn't
> much of anything in 20 years (judging by the service dates on the RL01
> Drives).
> 
> Welcome to you and your Alpha!

Just to complete the thread, I also have a Pro 350 and a Pro 380 - which 
are 23 and 73 CPU's respectively.  But my main love is my 11/73+ that's 
running RSX-11 (or RT11 or whatever else I want to boot on it).  It's been 
sitting quietly by the front door glowering at me because I don't have a 
network board for it.  Some day.

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#236196

On 2026-10-27, Dave Shevett wrote:

> On Mon, 26 Oct 2026 20:17:17 +0100, s|b wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 26 Oct 2026 02:59:31 -0000 (UTC), Dave Shevett wrote:
>> 
>>> Forgive me usenet, for I have sinned.
>>> 
>>> It has been 20 years since I posted.  All had gone dark, I was in a
>>> place of shadow and sadness.
>>> 
>>> I'm weak and weary now, the bones creak, the colors fade, but the fans
>>> still spin, the disks do rattle, the network lights do blink.
>>> 
>>> Sup, ya'll?
>> 
>> You know Google Groups is out, yes?
>
> Yaazzzz.  My "i am learning all that happened" scope says that when Groups 
> detached from Usenet it returned to some semblance of sanity.

And before they cut peering, it was becoming impossible, it was only
possible to read USENET with enough killfiling and perhaps also a server
which cancelled spam articles (and this was an effort to cater to actual
users who did use Google Groups, as opposed to just refuse articles
injected by that SPAM-enabling operation).

In fact, Google cut peering because Google couldn't handle abuse of
their own services... I think that's a hell of a testimony about how
great of a tech company Google is.

> I guess what I'm trying to do now is find out if what is reborn now can be 
> a community I can hang in and be my nerdself and look forward to seeing 
> ya'll in.

Let's hope you find at least some groups currently to your liking, be it
here or somewhere else in the hierarchy :-)

-- 
Nuno Silva

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#236530

Dave Shevett <shevett@pobox.com> writes:

> Forgive me usenet, for I have sinned.
>
> It has been 20 years since I posted.  All had gone dark, I was in a place 
> of shadow and sadness.
>
> I'm weak and weary now, the bones creak, the colors fade, but the fans 
> still spin, the disks do rattle, the network lights do blink.
>
> Sup, ya'll?

Welcome back. My ISP had dropped support for usenet and it went
unnoticed on my end for six months. I felt a bit of shame, as well, for
having ignored the glory of usenet.

I did a search online. Discovered that google had been providing free
usenet access but I didn't have an account. I wasn't going to create one
JUST for usenet access. And, not long after they dropped support.

Eventually, I found an article that rated the best usenet services out
there and have been with them since. It's worth a few dollars -
expecailly since my internet cost had gone down in the ensuing years.

Anyway, welcome back to the fold.

-- 
Daniel
sysop  | air & wave bbs
finger | info@bbs.airandwave.net

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