Search results for "meeting" - WLUG

Re: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting?

by donald vitkus

Stephen C. Daukas wrote: > Not to trigger a full blown debate... > > It doesn't matter what point *we* are at, it matters what point anyone > who decides to show up is at. It also doesn't matter what can fit on > a flash drive... You have to ask yourself who the intended audience > is. If it is techies who already know what a home directory is and > might end up playing with Linux without WLUG's help, then it doesn't > matter what you show, or if you demo more than one thing. > > If, however, you are trying to interest newbies who might decide to > stay with what they already have if the alternative is perceived as a > lot of work, then I would advise skipping the discussion about how > cool the technology is and focus on why a standard Linux distro is > useful. As I keep reminding my students - the technology is > meaningless, the important questions to ask is "what can you do with > it". If you really want to excite a lot of students, show them how > they can save money and, more importantly time, and still turn their > assignments in on time in a format acceptable to their professors! > > The reason for my initial comment in this thread was simple: In my > experience at WPI, a non-trivial minority of students do not have a > tremendous amount of experience with computers - even the self > professed "programmers." Students new to WPI are already overwhelmed > with some 30-40 hours a week of school work outside of class time. If > they are "into computers" then they are already interested enough to > invest their time based on the "technology is cool" camp. If, > however, they are interested in technology as a tool, they will look > at the demo, size up how much effort is involved (and that includes > how readily available the necessary information is and how easy that > info is to use), decide how helpful the venue is to trying Linux, > assess if Linux/WLUG/whatever is worth it to them, and make a > decision. If, as you say, the commercial distributions are no more > difficult to install than windows, then that is what we should be > showing, as well as OpenOffice, Mozilla, and so forth. > > Steve > > Matt Higgins wrote: > >>My 2 cents or less if you will. >> >>I think Knoppix is the way to go! The point is to showoff Linux-wares not to >>teach about a particular distributions configuration mechanism or file system >>layout. Knoppix is clean and impressive in many ways and does a great job at >>showing off what Linux can do. Furthermore we are to the point were a Linux >>install is no more difficult then a Windows install, particularly the commercial >>distributions; Red Hat, SuSe, Mandrake, Yellow Dog, etc... >> >>So thats my 2 cents or less, long live Slackware! >> >>Matt >> >>Quoting Steve Freitag <Steve.Freitag(a)alum.wpi.edu>: >> >> >> >>>I've recently spent a small amount of time playing around with both the SuSe >>>8.2 Live Eval, and Knoppix 7-26-03, so I thought I'd pass along my >>>observation >>> >>> >>> >>>Both default you into KDE and have a similar selection of apps (Like >>>OpenOffice, Mozilla, the GIMP etc). Knoppix happens to be based of Debian. >>> >>> >>> >>>There were a couple of things I liked about Knoppix. The first is that you >>>don't have to go through all the YaST screens when you boot, Knoppix just >>>boots right up to KDE and logs you on as user knoppix. The other neat thing >>>about Knoppix is that you can save your configuration and home directory of >>>the size you specify on a USB flash drive. With SuSE if you want to save >>>your configuration/home dir it creates a 100MB file on your hard drive (and >>>another 100MB for swap if you want). With Knoppix you can carry a cheap >>>($10 after rebate) 64MB USB flash drive around with you and a Knoppix CD and >>>boot a PC into your personal environment without touching the hard disk. >>> >>> >>> >>>-----Original Message----- >>>From: wlug-admin(a)mail.wlug.org [mailto:wlug-admin@mail.wlug.org] On Behalf >>>Of Stephen C. Daukas >>>Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 4:23 PM >>>To: wlug(a)mail.wlug.org >>>Subject: Re: [Wlug] Re: Next Meeting? >>> >>> >>> >>>Is introducing yet-another-flavor-of-linux useful? I understand what you >>>are trying to achieve, but one of the first questions that came to my mind >>>was "what is the difference between Knoppix and a regular Linux distro"? >>>(The first was actually "what the hell is Knopix"!) Will it be confusing to >>>the people looking at is verusus what they see when they look at SuSe, Red >>>Hat, etc.? >>> >>>Andy Stewart wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>>On Monday 01 September 2003 4:52 pm, albutler33(a)netscape.net wrote: >>> >>> >>>Andy, >>> >>>I think a great topic especially for the new students would be "Fast Track >>>to Linux" where you introduce the GNOME and KDE desktops and a few of your >>>favorite tools and utilities. >>> >>>Al Butler >>> >>> >>> >>>HI Al, >>> >>>My most current thoughts are centered on Linux, its origins, the GPL, >>>WLUG/WPILA, and then segue into single CD demo distributions for folks who >>>want to "kick the tires", as it were, without fully committing their hard >>>drives to Linux. >>> >>>One such single CD demo distribution is Knoppix, which does have KDE (and >>>GNOME?). Once Knoppix is running, many things could be demonstrated. If I >>>go with this idea, I'd want to have copies of the Knoppix CD available for >>>people to take home, and hopefully they would try it at their leisure. >>> >>>How does that sound? Do people have additional ideas? Let's hear them! >>>:-) >>> >>>Later, >>> >>>Andy >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>__________________________________________________________________ >>>McAfee VirusScan Online from the Netscape Network. >>>Comprehensive protection for your entire computer. Get your free trial >>>today! >>>http://channels.netscape.com/ns/computing/mcafee/index.jsp?promo=393397 >>> >>>Get AOL Instant Messenger 5.1 free of charge. Download Now! >>>http://aim.aol.com/aimnew/Aim/register.adp?promo=380455 >>> >>>_______________________________________________ >>>Wlug mailing list >>>Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org >>>http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>-- >>>Stephen C. Daukas - stephen(a)daukas.com - http://daukas.com/ >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Wlug mailing list >>Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org >>http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >> >> >> >> >> > >-- >Stephen C. Daukas - stephen(a)daukas.com - http://daukas.com/ > > > I hope you will slow down the process if you have to trouble shoot the install of linux.

26 years

Re: [Wlug] Meeting Topic Idea - MythTV

by John Stoffel

All, Sorry if this is going off topic, since we're not talking Linux much here.... thought Myth is linux, and Tivo is linux with additions, so it's sorta kinda maybe relevant. :] John >>>>> <bkn(a)ithryn.net> writes: > On Wed, 7 May 2008 08:30:12 -0400, "John Stoffel" <john(a)stoffel.org> wrote: >>>>>>> "Eric" == Eric Martin <freak4uxxx(a)gmail.com> writes: >> Eric> I have a mythbox but can't bring it in as my wife would *KILL* Eric> me. I can however talk about a few things although I don't see Eric> it going past 20 minutes. If anybody's interested in it I could Eric> throw something together for a later date... >> > I also have am mythtv box. > Someone was asking about a distro earlier. The latest ubuntu appears to > have ivtv support built into the kernel and the lirc code built into the > kernel. The former is a driver for the hauppauge tv cards the the latter is > for the remote. Until very recently ivtv and lirc were a challenge to get > working because it meant you had to recompile your kernel every time > something changed. > Other challenges for old tube-style TV is to get it to display to > the TV correctly. I believe you need a special X11 driver for > this. The new LCD TVs are much more friendly when it comes to > plugging-in a computer. Right now I've just got a plain old JVC Tube TV, which has worked great for years and years. No plans to replace until it's dead dead dead. Not HD plans either... it would be a waste on a 32" TV screen. >> >> Now my big questions, since I can't make the meeting due to other >> commitments, is as follows: >> >> - do people use their TiVo remotes with Myth? >> > I use the remote that came with my pvr card. It works really well. I > need to use the TV remote to turn the TV on, but once the TV is on, > i only use the mythtv remote to control TV. I also use mythtv and > the mythtv remote to play DVDs using xine, which is the only media > player i could find that has decent DVD menu support. Does the PVR remote not have the ability to turn on the TV power? My TiVo talks quite well to my TV, except for changing channels when I'm on the TV Tuner input, and not on the TiVo tuner. >> - anyone hack a TiVo to be a Myth frontend box? > I believe their tv tuners is propriety, but i could be wrong on > this. The hauppauge cards are well supported under linux many of > them have hardware decoders and encoders which alleviate the load on > the CPU for converting the TV streams. I don't want to use the TiVo as the backend in this case, I just want to use it to read streams off the backend Myth box and display them to the TV. Seems like a perfect use for an old Series 1 or series 2 Tivo which you don't want to pay the monthly fee for any more. Ideally, if I setup a Myth server, I'd have my TiVo as the front end, along with it's remote. Ideally. >> - which capture cards work with Digital cable? >> > I don't know of any, read more below ... I know they must exist, but I honestly haven't researched this much at all. Nor do I care for HD Digital cable either. It's just not worth the money to me. Though when my Wife see the RedSox on high def, she just might want it badly enough! *grin* But the real goal is simplicity. And minimum number of remotes. >> - does it need to be downstream of the cable box? > Yes. I did set this up at my place just to test it. With my setup > using comcast, i had a serial cable plugged into the mythtv box and > the cable box. I was able to change the channels on the digital > cable box. There is significant lag -- i mean more so than lag than > usual digital cable. Since i don't want anything that comes through > on the digital channels i just setup the analog side to go to my > mythtv box. That gets me all the channels i want. We're ok with Analog too, except for BBC America is up over 100, so we need Digital to get that. And I'm bummed at the slowness of the Tivo changing channels on my Digital Cable box (using the IR doohickey), it's really annoying. >> I was just at my mom's house and she has a new Sony LCD HD TV. >> Realize that my mom is clueless about technology, so much so that they >> took advantage of her and sold her a Toshiba HD DVD player too. >> Sigh... > ouch. I would definitely take it back, where did she get this? I > would go find their manager. that's really absurd. It's too late now, it's been two months since she got this setup, my first time down to visit and see it. I wasn't too impressed with the picture quality, nor with the Sony TV in terms of configurability, etc. Not to say I'm still not pissed at them for this. The annoying part is that the TV has 8+ inputs, but she only uses two of them, and I cannot turn off the rest of them so she can't see them by default. Total pain in the butt. I'm thinking the Harmony remote with the two buttons that say "Watch TV" and "Watch a movie", properly programmed, would be a life saver for her, and for me. >> All she wants is a big screen so she can watch TV and DVDs. That's >> it. Now she has to juggle three friggin remotes to do this. A >> logitech Harmony remote is in her future I think. :] >> > As i mentioned above, i only need to use the TV remote to turn the TV on > for all other tasks i just use the mythtv remote. A friend of mine has a > nice LCD HDTV with mythtv setup (although he only gets standard def TV); > he's TV goes into sleep mode with it's been inactive and the mythtv remote > will wake the TV up; so he only needs the one remote. >> But this just shows how complicated it can be to setup a simple >> setup. So, how do people deal with multiple inputs, remotes, >> digital/analog cable, etc. > I hope this question is somehow explained above. The remotes that > come with the hauppauge PRV cards are well supported under linux. It > took me some configuration to get it working, but i can explain that > at a later time if necessary; that is if i can remember how to do > it; it's been so long. As long as they're supported, I can deal I think. I just really really really like the Tivo remote and how it feels in the hand. And being able to use it with Myth would make my wife and kids accept it all the more easily. >> All in regards to Myth, since when my TiVo finally bites the dust, >> I'll need to put something up ASAP to keep the family happy. >> > i can understand that. It's hard to go back to watching regular TV. It's impossible. :] John

17 years, 8 months

Re: [Wlug] Test needed on declared-ill Modem. Who has a lab?

by Richard Klein

Liz, I live in Clinton these days, where Verizon DSL and Comcast are the only options. Comcast is faster, but their monthly data caps made Verizon the better choice for me (not to mention my general distaste for cable companies). I recently had superficially similar problems. I went on freecycle and got someone's old DSL modem to swap for my own, to rule that out, but I got impatient and bought a new modem before I got the reply from freecycle. In any case, you probably can get another cable modem off freecycle for testing purposes. After the new modem didn't fix things, I finally called Verizon. They sent out a tech with a good "bedside" manner (he was friendly, seemed to know what he was talking about, and didn't talk down to me). He didn't find anything wrong with my signal, but he did notice the copper loop to my apartment was longer than necessary and cut down the excess at the pole. I haven't had any problems in the 2 months since. In retrospect, I think my problems were mostly on hot, humid days. -- Rich On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 7:11 PM, E Johnson <iris.gates(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Umm. Non-happy camper. ISP things have changed here, without me being > informed. Recently (2 days ago) my modem started rebooting every little > while. Zillions of T3 & T4 timouts in the modem log, Signal lavels were > perfect when it was online. I own this thing, a Motorola SB6120 purchased > late June 2010. It has not been abused. > > I am in Woosta & we all know the ISP available here. 2 techs showed up > mid-morning, to diagnose and fix this issue. One guy stood there watching; > the other guy "did stuff." They checked the signal levels on incoming line > from the box connected to the pole our back, and declared my moden Dying. > They talked to each other (not me) & seemed to think I was Granny-in-a-Box, > until they let me say more than one sentence. > > These guys also confessed that since July 202, Ch4rter does not "allow" > customers to own/run their own modems. Their consolation prize is that they > don't charge modem rental fees any more. (it's not on the bill, anyway, > FWIW). They mumbled some other mumbo jumbo and fled 5 seconds after they > learned I have my own router too, & didn't care if the modem and router were > yet in communication. They just said "better reboot" and they "no longer" > service "wireless" --which I am not running except when certain visitors > appear. I think they meant they don't diagnose routers, which has always > been the policy, and which is fine. Internal LAN issues aren't their > problem. > > So now I have a modem which may or may not be sick, but no way to test it to > make sure. Is there anyone here who can take a look at this thing & test to > see if it's Really Dying, or if Ch4rter deaded it with their latest > firmware revision of their firmware & policy change in July 2012? > > An interesting meeting theme sometime might be how to get the Verizon FIOS > in Worcester. Several years ago I watched Verizon trucks & Verizon moles > installing their fiber optics in manholes all over town. Ch4rter is running > on Verizon's infrastructure. Ch4rter internet has been working better since > then, but we're still locked out of the option to use verizon. Is this a > topic of interest to anyone? If so, I'll lead the discussion and even buy > the Pizz4. To me, this is a Large Pizza problem. > > Another interesting but probably futile discussion might center around why > we have suddenly been deprived of the ability to watch the behavior and > effectiveness of our modems, which serve internet coming from our ISP.. I > was not informed of this -- was anyone who is just a 'regular' customer? > > Meanwhile, if anyone has a test lab or whatever, where they can test my > declared-dead modem, please let me know. Otherwise it's probably a giveaway, > or another piece of Landfill Fodder. I can bring to a meeting & can wait for > results. > > Thanks & happy pizzaz, > Liz J > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

13 years, 4 months

Re: [Wlug] just a bit-o-fun

by Terry Yelmene

Now I know my anonymous friend's intent, thanks for the source- Unfortunately, anything I had that played vinyl is long gone (and I have a bunch of albums I'd love to hear again!) I do think its cute though- Terry Yelmene em: tyelmene(a)3c3art.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "doug waud" <douglas.waud(a)umassmed.edu> To: <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2001 8:04 AM Subject: Re: [Wlug] just a bit-o-fun > Hi > > > The source for this definitely wants to remain anonymous- > > but... > > The source is Flanders and Swan, a pair of Brits who were on > the entertainment circuit years ago. They specialized in animal > songs (Hippopotamus: Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud! Nothing quite like > it for cooling the blood, so come let us follow, down to the > hollow and there let us wallow, in glorious mud! ) I have their > old 33rpm around somewhere. If you still have a player :-) > and want to hear the rest, let me know and I can dig around > and bring it in to the next WLUG meeting. > > > > I had to share it with you cause, now I'm a Gnu Too! > > A gnother gnu! (Spelling checker did not like that!) > > doug > -- > Douglas R Waud > 17 Lantern Lane, Shrewsbury, MA, 01545-2006 > http://www.ummed.edu/pub/d/drw/ > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

24 years, 9 months

Re: Uptime!

by Jon "maddog" Hall

Tim, What was the reason for shutting it down? This reminds me of a story from years ago where a young friend contacted me before a trip to the University of New Hampshire for a Linux LUG meeting. He asked me if I would go to a particular dorm and knock on the door of what had been his door room. I was to ask if I could unplug the box that was in the corner of the closet in the room. The system had been running for five years in his former dorm room and he had forgotten the login password. He did not want the machine back, just wanted it unplugged. A young woman answered the door, heard my explanation and let me unplug the machine. "We were afraid to unplug it" she said. Your machine beat his machine on uptime. md On Wed, Apr 20, 2022 at 5:07 PM Tim Keller via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: > I just shutdown a linux machine with 3169 days of uptime! > It had userland processes that have been actively running since 2013! > Tim. > > -- > I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their > constituents as "consumers". > _______________________________________________ > WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org > To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org > Create Account: https://wlug.mailman3.com/accounts/signup/ > Change Settings: > https://wlug.mailman3.com/postorius/lists/wlug.lists.wlug.org/ > Web Forum/Archive: > https://wlug.mailman3.com/hyperkitty/list/wlug@lists.wlug.org/message/PW3ML… >

3 years, 9 months

Re: [Wlug] Community Training

by Michael Long

I would love to pick your brain about this. I am slowly moving my program forward between work, kids, etc. Do you have a location you are doing this out of. If so I would like to check it out. Otherwise I would be happy to talk over the phone or meet you over a cup of coffee. Please let me know what works best for you. Mike Long cell: 978 729 3534 Patrick Sawyer wrote: > We still kinda do this stuff. > > Unfortunately my time now gets spent on the job, not allowing much room > for this stuff. > > I still get donations and we still give computers away, just not in the > same capacity. > > I would be happy to go over the lessons I have learned, things that > worked, and things we could have done better. > > > Pat Sawyer > > On Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 2:22 PM, Clint Moyer <cdmoyer(a)charter.net > <mailto:cdmoyer@charter.net>> wrote: > > > ---- Michael Long <mlong(a)datalong.com <mailto:mlong@datalong.com>> > wrote: > > ============= > > The Free Geek project looks like my idea on steroids. Too bad they are > on the other coast. They are a good resource though. > > > http://www.fgri.org > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org <mailto:Wlug@mail.wlug.org> > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

16 years, 10 months

Re: [Wlug] Self-Introduction : Markus McLaughlin

by Eric Martin

Markus McLaughlin wrote: > Hi, my name is Markus McLaughlin, I run a small Linux Blog, I reside > in Hudson, I been wanting to join your group and get some expert > advice on Fedora 10. I am not a Programmer, I am an Advanced User who > wants to learn Fedora, I don't mind tinkering with it so I get to work > right. Ubuntu is cool but it's not American based like Fedora is. > Does the group have an IRC channel? I like to IRC chat with everyone > here when I have some free time! I hope we can ALL make a small > difference in the Linux Community! > > M. McLaughlin > linuxglobe.wordpress.com > Hudson, MA, USA Hi and welcome! There's plenty of people running FC (as well as other distros) that are always happy to help. I don't run FC but I help where I can. The irc channel is #wlug-ma om freenode. It goes in waves but there are a few people who are on it all the time. Generally the irc channel is random chats between us all and the mailing list is where things get taken care of. That's not to say that people won't help on IRC, it's just that there are more people checking the mailing list than looking at irc :) Hope to see you at the next meeting -- Eric Martin Key fingerprint = D1C4 086E DBB5 C18E 6FDA B215 6A25 7174 A941 3B9F

17 years

Improving WLUG outreach

by Joshua Stone

Hey all, I thought I'd like to continue the topic about what we could do to increase attendance meeting. I think working with the community at WPI would be a great thing for us, so long as we try to understand more about the student culture. I've learned that one of the most important things about WPI is that a sense of community and working toward a greater goal are included as part of the curriculum. One of the earliest classes a WPI student takes involves thinking about the biggest problems impacting the world and makes strides to tackling such problems head-on. https://www.wpi.edu/project-based-learning/wpi-plan/10-things-to-know I believe WPI also has a strong background in bioinformatics, and that's a field that can surely benefit from FOSS as we want to encourage openness and ethics when being on the forefront of scientific research that could have sweeping societal impact. The last thing we need is more companies like 23andMe hoarding genetic data for profit. Perhaps WLUG can do more to be involved in such things, emphasizing the importance of "ethical" computing with the problems of DRM, spying/tracking, proprietary software and data formats, software patents, and licenses that lock away data that the community could benefit from. Essentially we could give people more of an opportunity to think about the social aspects and ramifications of technology, and can use that as a framework for creating a better future. These are still ideas I'm throwing at the wall, hopefully something sticks! -Josh

6 years

Re: [Wlug] WLUG's membership in BUG

by Bill Smith

On Wed, 4 Sep 2002 21:22:25 -0400 Andy Stewart <andystewart(a)attbi.com> wrote: AS> I would like to note that I have expressed WLUG's general AS> displeasure with BUG to the president of BUG, Rick Zach. He told me AS> that the calendar issue would be cleared up if we chose to renew our AS> membership. they'll fix our link issue if we choose to renew? sounds almost like a hostage situation.... 8\ AS> Clint Moyer is quite correct when he points out that WLUG can afford AS> the $50 if we so choose, but unfortunately we're not at five figures AS> in the bank (unless you count the two figures for cents). :-) all the more reason to watch the pennies... AS> Certainly, if we did decide to renew, I would attend any/all BUG AS> meetings, insure that WLUG had a presence at the MegaMeeting, etc. AS> I did this last year after we paid our initial $50 membership fee. that's good to SOME extent, since it pretty-much gives us visibility, but would it be worth the money? AS> I'll sit back a bit longer and wait for any other comments from WLUG AS> members on this topic. I'll probably close the topic by this AS> weekend, unless the discussion is lively at that time. i certainly hope others chime in... i've already cast my "vote"... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- William Smith wsmith-at-chezsmith-dot-com Fall River, MA http://www.chezsmith.com Wherever you go, there you are. * TAG! v3.0 *

23 years, 4 months

Re: DECStation 3100 on a RPi2040...

by John Stoffel

>>>>> "Jon" == Jon \"maddog\" Hall via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> writes: > The DECstation 3100 (aka the PMAX) was a system based on the same > motherboard as the VAXstation 3100, except with a MIPS processor. > It was the first time that Digital had built a system using another > company's chip architecture. That's an interesting statement. I would think it was the same case and port setup, but a different motherboard since you couldn't just slot a MIPS processor into a VAXstation processor. > We had a choice between supporting the MIPS R2000 chip as "big > endian" or "little endian". We chose to support "little endian" to > be compatible with PDP-11s, VAXen and Intel chips, rather than be > compatible with other manufacturers. This, in my mind, was very > important since it let us share data over NFS and give greater > compatibility with programs and libraries of applications already > running on other Unix-like systems such as Ultrix, BSD, etc. Sun > experienced this grief when they ported Solaris off the big endian > Motorola and SPARC chips to little endian Intel. > One of the few issues of the DECstation 3100 (and 2100, known as the > "PMIN" after that) was that the serial I/O port did not support > hardware handshaking. To save a couple of pennies per system the > VAX hardware designers determined that having full hardware modem > control (DECstandard 52) on the board was not needed, because "very > few workstation users hook a modem up to their serial line". What > they meant was that "very few VMS workstation users hooked a modem > up to their serial line", opting for DECnet to handle their > networking. Therefore the pins necessary to support hardware modem > control were missing from the DECstation product lines. Yes! It's coming back to me, the 3100s were horrible for serial, though I think they had fixed it for the 5000 series systems, since the DECstation 5000 and the DECserver 5100 were identical, except the DECStation had a graphics card and cost 10-20% _less_ than the DECstation 5000. So we bought DECStations and used them as servers. :-) I used to live and breathe the DEC options catalog, which was something like an inch thick book in purple (maybe blue? maybe changed each year?) with all the various options and configurations you could get. > Unix users, on the other hand, often had modems hooked up to their > workstation, to handle cu(1), uucp(1) and other serial line > protocols. We eventually got around this by better refining > software modem control, but it was painful. The EE department had Sun 1s at WPI, and they have the 9600 baud bitnet connection running of a VAX 11/780 at the time. > The proposal, design and release of the DECstation 3100 was a > top-secret project inside of DEC, kept secret from even many people > in the Digital Unix group in Nashua, New Hampshire. The > development of the system was done in Palo Alto's WorkStation > Engineering group and the software engineering was done in the > Western Software Labs in Palo Alto, albeit by taking key engineers > from the Nashua facility and transplanting them temporarily to Palo > Alto. > The implementation was kept so secret that it caught Dave Cutler, > then working on DEC's next-generation operating system and chips, by > surprise when it debuted at a Board Meeting in Maynard, > Massachusetts. Shortly after that board meeting Mr. Cutler left > Digital and moved (with some of his team) to Microsoft. Do you think that was just the straw that broke the camel's back? > The DECstations only were manufactured for a couple of years, as the > DEC Alpha processor replaced MIPS in Digital's lineup. Although > originally promised that OSF/1 would be ported to the DECstation > line, this port was dropped due to realizing that there would never > be an application base to support the customers of a DECstation > OSF/1 port. It was better for ISVs and customers to maintain the > Ultrix base for the DECstations than to split the base into Ultrix > and OSF/1. Yeah, we had a ton of DECstations and a bunch of various early model Alphas at WPI which we beta tested for DEC. The AS2100 with 8 DEC StorageWorks canisters (which Netapp used on their early F220, F330, F740 NAS systems) holding 3.5" disks, dual ported, hot-swapable. Nice gear. The move from Ultrix to DEC OSF/1 was a bit painful, but not terrible as I recall, but I'm sure I've blocked all the bad memories from then. Thanks for the walk down memory lane! John

1 year, 6 months

WLUG search results for query "meeting"