1 INFO-VAX	Sun, 29 Jul 2001	Volume 2001 : Issue 417       Contents: (auto|sys)gen and params.dat( Re: Alpha:  an invitation to communicate! Re: benchmarking disk performance ! Re: benchmarking disk performance $ Re: Few People in DEC Understood....' Re: IA64 running out of steam already?? % Re: IA64 volume and low-end dominance % Re: IA64 volume and low-end dominance % Re: IA64 volume and low-end dominance : Re: IPF Console Bootstrap (was: Re: No chance for OpenVMS) Re: Itanium SPECs P Re: Ken Olsen (and DEC History), was: Re: Escape sequences not filtered in VMS MP Re: Ken Olsen (and DEC History), was: Re: Escape sequences not filtered in VMS MP Re: Ken Olsen (and DEC History), was: Re: Escape sequences not filtered in VMS M  Re: My final take on the subject# Passing a socket to another process  Q: VXT2000, a nice terminal?  Re: Q: VXT2000, a nice terminal?  F ----------------------------------------------------------------------  % Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 20:38:53 -0700 , From: "Brian M. Kelley" <bkelley@vizdom.com>% Subject: (auto|sys)gen and params.dat * Message-ID: <3B63854D.2B543075@vizdom.com>  7   Hey all. VMS-admin newbie here. We're running OpenVMS    7.2-1 on an Alpha 433a.   8   I did a bad (?) thing: I deleted sys$system:params.dat9   (don't ask; little sleep the previos night). Here's the ;   catch: I don't have a backup. The question is, of course, ;   how can I recover/regenerate this file? Is this possible? =   I can see the system param values running 'paramaters/show' ;   in sys$system:sysman, so I know regenerating this file is 8   possible in some manner (that, and booting the machine.   doesn't seem to depend on this file either).  -   I need the file to be in place so I can run 8   sys$system:autogen to reconfig some system parameters.7   Apologies if this question has an obvious answer that    I'm not seeing. Thanks!        Brian    ------------------------------  # Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 18:58:16 GMT 4 From: LESLIE@209-16-45-102.insync.net (Jerry Leslie)1 Subject: Re: Alpha:  an invitation to communicate ) Message-ID: <cXD87.5400$%L5.76226@insync>   , Mary Rogers (mary001@nf.sympatico.ca) wrote:5 : Hello Can Anyone Tell Me About The New Virus Called 0 : "w32.sircam.worm@mm"      This one Infected My : C:\windows\system\scam.exe  1   http://www.datafellows.com/v-descs/sircam.shtml 3   F-Secure Computer Virus Information Pages: Sircam   K : and I think i fixed the file but had to delete it and now at times i cant G : open certain programs with out getting this Message system needs File  : "SirC32.exe"  ? The worm's reference is still in the Registry. Quoting from the  F-Secure Sircam web page:      "Removal instructions:  A    If your system is infected with the worm first please download ;    this REG file and install it (by double-clicking on it):   >    ftp://ftp.europe.f-secure.com/anti-virus/tools/sirc_dis.reg  B    This will remove the worm's reference from the EXE file startup7    key and the main worm's startup key in the Registry.   B    Warning! The system might become unusable if the worm's file is=    deleted without modifying the EXE file startup key first."   0 BTW, try a Windows-specific news group, such as:  !   o comp.os.ms-windows.win95.misc    o comp.os.ms-windows.nt.misc  C and bookmark www.datafellows.com for future information on viruses,  worms, hoaxes, etc.   % --Jerry Leslie   leslie@clio.rice.edu /                  leslie@209-16-45-97.insync.net ;                  leslie@209-16-45-102.insync.net is invalid 2                  (my opinions are strictly my own)   ------------------------------   Date: 28 Jul 2001 21:07:46 GMT' From: prosullivan@aol.com (PROSULLIVAN) * Subject: Re: benchmarking disk performance: Message-ID: <20010728170746.23947.00001803@ng-cm1.aol.com>  G Fortel's Sightline can produce some very nice IO performance numbers on  7.2-1.   -Scott  > If you can afford it. Better is ECP from Compaq - its is free!   www.openvms.compaq.com   ------------------------------  # Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 00:25:59 GMT $ From: Scott Vieth <svieth@wi.rr.com>* Subject: Re: benchmarking disk performance) Message-ID: <3B6358C4.FF182E44@wi.rr.com>   I Yup - free is good.  But ECP can't provide the detail that Sightline can. > Also, can ECP display performance stats from the distant past?   -s   PROSULLIVAN wrote:  I > Fortel's Sightline can produce some very nice IO performance numbers on  > 7.2-1. >  > -Scott > @ > If you can afford it. Better is ECP from Compaq - its is free! >  > www.openvms.compaq.com   ------------------------------  % Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 17:01:59 -0400 ' From: "Bill Todd" <billtodd@foo.mv.com> - Subject: Re: Few People in DEC Understood.... ( Message-ID: <9jv99h$amk$1@pyrite.mv.net>  5 "David Cressey" <david@dcressey.com> wrote in message . news:QKy87.43$Iw2.1733@petpeeve.ziplink.net...I > This is a tangent off of the Ken Olsen and history thread, which itself  was  > a tangent. > J > There are a lot of products that DEC made about which people in DEC saidJ > "few people in DEC understood how good, important, powerful, and elegantG > this product was".  Or maybe "few people understood what it was for". / > All-in-one was mentioned in the other thread.   J All-in-one was, as best I can remember, regarded as an abomination when itK first appeared:  large, kludgey, and slow.  In retrospect, it seems to have L been the logical precursor to Microsoft bloatware:  esthetically unpleasing,J but sufficiently in tune with the functionality that customers wanted thatK it didn't matter (and fully in tune with the 'anything for a buck' attitude 2 of its creators, who named their home node ATFAB).   > 7 > Here's a list of products I've heard that said about:  >  > All-in-one > Rdb  > ACMS > The Common Data dictionary > Datatrieve  I Back in the late '70s, Central Engineering at DEC did not own things like J the 'commercial' languages, RMS, Datatrieve-11, and DBMS-11, and tended toI look down on them as unworthy of its technical heritage (though even back J then the commercial uses of DEC systems likely brought in revenue at leastH comparable to the technical uses).  And the technical people who ran DECL later on came largely from that background, so this lack of appreciation may have persisted.   F And All-in-one came from a group even farther from the center of DEC's	 universe.    > H > I don't necessarily agree with the everything in the above list.  It'sC > probably the case that there are lots of Products that *I* didn't 
 understand1 > the importance of until it was very, very late.  > K > Can you add to the above list?  Can you put some hardware products on the  > list?  > H > Can you comment on WHY a company like DEC seemed so often to be at war with	 > itself?   H Perhaps because the 'strategic' style of management adopted in the earlyH '80s no longer allowed people who felt some product was an embarrassmentJ simply to go off and build something better:  when internal competition isH stifled, not only does the breed suffer in general but energy that would9 otherwise be put to good use gets diverted into politics.   D   Did this phenomenon carry over into Compaq or is there a different > culture over there?   K Since DEC was already terminally PC-centric under Palmer well before Compaq  took over, it's hard to tell.    > I > Was the VAX information architecture really an architecture or was it a G > hodgepodge of products that had been ideated and realized separately?   I Yes and no.  DATATRIEVE-32 was an extension of Datatrieve-11 and predated H CDD and Rdb by years, so any compatibility in its case was via retrofit.I DBMS-32 IIRC also was completed before any thought of CDD arose.  Some of J the later portion of Rdb's initial development may have taken place in theK context of thoughts of CDD - and CDD itself may have initially been created I to promote compatibility between Rdb and Rdb-ELN (which was Jim Starkey's J alternative to Rdb that later became Interbase):  anyone still around from+ that era with a more definite recollection?   J And my vague memory is that ACMS arrived on the scene a bit later than all
 the above.   - bill   > --
 > Regards, >     David Cressey  >     www.dcressey.com >  >    ------------------------------  % Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 15:04:50 -0400 ' From: "Bill Todd" <billtodd@foo.mv.com> 0 Subject: Re: IA64 running out of steam already??( Message-ID: <9jv2dn$6ub$1@pyrite.mv.net>  : "JF Mezei" <jfmezei.spamnot@videotron.ca> wrote in message& news:3B62F189.41F15447@videotron.ca... > Bill Todd wrote: > > I > > This isn't meant to start a thread here, but for people interested in  this< > > topic comp.arch has a discussion going under this title. > E > If Intel was able to take the 8086 game controller and turn it into 	 something K > in the same league as the fancy 64 bit Alpha, then they should be able to  takeJ > the IA64 and do the same, especially now that they are hiring all the ex DEC K > engineers and have the full right to copy the techniques that the Digital  > engineers had developped.   L Rather than offering uninformed opinions on the matter, why not drop over toL comp.arch (and Paul DeMone's articles at realworldtech.com, and the infamousA Alpha-IA64 Compaq comparison paper) and learn something about it?    - bill   ------------------------------  % Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 02:24:09 -0600 + From: Ben Franchuk <bfranchuk@jetnet.ab.ca> . Subject: Re: IA64 volume and low-end dominance, Message-ID: <3B6276A9.FB9C24CB@jetnet.ab.ca>   mulp wrote:  > > > "Jordan Henderson" <jordan@lisa.gemair.com> wrote in message& > news:9ibj2h$9nt$1@lisa.gemair.com...C > >   What really drove the move from IA16 to IA32 was not customer ? > >   demand for faster systems, but rather customer demand for D > >   the new system software (Windows386, OS/2, Unix) that required@ > >   IA32.  This is what will drive the move from IA32 to IA64. > = > What software exactly was it that drove the demand for 386?  > M > Windows 3.0 only used the memory management of the 386 to provide access to L > more memory to run 16 bit code; this was just a cheaper solution than someM > of the earlier memory expansion kludges that had been available previously.   L The fact that DOS was never modified to run 32 bit code and there was was noO FREE 32 bit assembers/compilers forced windows on everbody.The other factor was  the 386 P had 1) larger memory than 16MEG, 2) Built in floating point 3) Could run old dosO programs unchanged. I think they could of  made the 286 to have real new 32 bit C instruction set as well as toggle to the 8086 instruction set. Ben.  --  > Standard Disclaimer : 97% speculation 2% bad grammar 1% facts.< "Pre-historic Cpu's" http://www.jetnet.ab.ca/users/bfranchuk Now with schematics.   ------------------------------  # Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 19:34:08 GMT ) From: hoh@invalid.invalid (Goran Larsson) . Subject: Re: IA64 volume and low-end dominance# Message-ID: <GH77ow.L5z@approve.se>   , In article <3B6276A9.FB9C24CB@jetnet.ab.ca>,- Ben Franchuk  <bfranchuk@jetnet.ab.ca> wrote:   # > The other factor was the 386 had   > 2) Built in floating point  ! No builtin floating point in 386.    386SX  16 bit bus.%        Add 387 to get floating point.    386DX  32 bit bus.%        Add 387 to get floating point.   + 486SX  No builtin floating point processor. /        Add 487 to get floating point (487 is an /        expensive 486DX that disables the 486SX)   ( 486DX  Builtin floating point processor.   --  A Gran Larsson     Senior Systems Analyst    hoh AT approve DOT se    ------------------------------  % Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 05:06:34 -0600 + From: Ben Franchuk <bfranchuk@jetnet.ab.ca> . Subject: Re: IA64 volume and low-end dominance, Message-ID: <3B629CBA.99161CCF@jetnet.ab.ca>   Goran Larsson wrote: > . > In article <3B6276A9.FB9C24CB@jetnet.ab.ca>,/ > Ben Franchuk  <bfranchuk@jetnet.ab.ca> wrote:  > $ > > The other factor was the 386 had > > 2) Built in floating point > # > No builtin floating point in 386.  >  > 386SX  16 bit bus.' >        Add 387 to get floating point.  >  > 386DX  32 bit bus.' >        Add 387 to get floating point.  > - > 486SX  No builtin floating point processor. 1 >        Add 487 to get floating point (487 is an 1 >        expensive 486DX that disables the 486SX)  > * > 486DX  Builtin floating point processor.  I Ok I knew somebody had the built in floating point. Just 1 generation too N early. Still that was great marketing for the 486- sell the ones with the deadM math coprocessor - then buy the same chip for again for the math coprocessor.  Ben.   - > Standard Disclaimer : 97% speculation 2% bad grammar 1% facts.< "Pre-historic Cpu's" http://www.jetnet.ab.ca/users/bfranchuk Now with schematics.   ------------------------------  % Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 00:12:20 -0500 % From: "Rich Jordan" <rjordan@mcs.net> C Subject: Re: IPF Console Bootstrap (was: Re: No chance for OpenVMS) 5 Message-ID: <pWM87.18779$j02.273139@news.goodnet.com>    Fred, J      nothing wrong with that, until the LAN goes down.  Nothing wrong withG USB (barring not being able to get correct keyboards!) until some other L thing on the bus barfs in a system-stopping fashion.  A plain serial consoleK is that wonderful lowest common denominator, reliable, well known, comfort- G inducing usable as a last ditch fallback to re-establishing control and  operation of the system.  ; Unless of course the Q wants to give us panel switches with : load/store/execute; personally I'd be happy with serial :)   Rich Jordan  rjordan@mcs.net     $ Fred Kleinsorge wrote in message ...A >As a note, many new large server systems are being designed with 6 >"virtualized" consoles that talk over a LAN protocol. >    ------------------------------  # Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 21:35:55 GMT " From: Ed Wilts <ewilts@ewilts.org> Subject: Re: Itanium SPECs; Message-ID: <%eG87.15665$X6.637424@typhoon.mn.mediaone.net>    Neil Rieck wrote:   D > For preliminary Itanium SPECs (and related opinions) check out the > following article:  I Seriously, does anybody care how a currently shipping Itanium performs?   I VMS systems won't be shipping on Itanium for another 3+ years.  I expect  - that just a few things will change by then...            .../Ed   --   Ed Wilts, Mounds View, MN, USA mailto:ewilts@ewilts.org   ------------------------------  # Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 18:52:03 GMT 4 From: LESLIE@209-16-45-102.insync.net (Jerry Leslie)Y Subject: Re: Ken Olsen (and DEC History), was: Re: Escape sequences not filtered in VMS M ) Message-ID: <nRD87.5399$%L5.76226@insync>   1 Frank da Cruz (fdc@watsun.cc.columbia.edu) wrote: + : In article <6_k87.5394$%L5.75914@insync>, 7 : Jerry Leslie <LESLIE@209-16-45-102.insync.net> wrote: 	 : : : ... N : : : Aside from this little flaw, which makes them useless for touch typists, : : : they are wonderful.  : : : K : : Ack !! I just compared the pictures to the the layout on the (original) G : : Northgate Omni 102, which is still plugged into the AT&T 6300 here.  : : 8 : : The old Northgate is nothing like what you describe. : : H : : The function keys are two columns on the left side of the main keys. : : , : : Another product "improved" too much. :-( : : L : Yes, I've been looking for the perfect keyboard ever since I can remember,I : and thought I had finally found it.  But no, every keyboard has a fatal 2 : flaw.  From history, the ones I liked best were: : D :  . The Concept-100.  Every key in the right place, and if I recallH :    correctly, pretty good feel too, but it's been a long time.  Anyway3 :    the flaw here is that they are loooooong gone.  : B :  . The *original* NeXT keyboard also have every key in the rightA :    place.  But not much in the way of tactile feedback.  And of B :    course they quickly ruined the layout in exactly the way thatA :    Avanti did -- the politically correct fat Return key pushing ; :    backslash off the main keypad.  On a UNIX workstation!  : J : The IBM 101 is perfect in every way except the placement of the Ctrl andJ : Esc keys, plus maybe they could have fit the tilde/grave key on the mainI : keypad if they had not made the Backspace key so wide (I suppose for VT I : emulation it could also use more F keys but that's not a personal issue J : for me).  Of course it can be remapped on a per-OS basis, but why botherI : if you don't have to?  (I have a PC where I can boot about 30 OS's, and B : figuring out to how to remap it in each is really not worth it.) : B : Some people like the "Happy Hacking" keyboard, but not me.  It'sG : insubstantial, mushy, and they too put backslash (AND Delete!) in theo : wrong place. :  Frank,  C Have you tried contacting the manufacturers to inform them of theira products' shortcomings ?  C You do enjoy some industry-wide recognition as a software developernD which might get their attention. Maybe even Compaq would listen <G>.  B Perhaps someone would build and market the Frank da Cruz-specified/ keyboards, ala Tim Allen's line of power tools:      http://www.timallentools.com/n   http://www.timallenrrr.com/    --Jerry    ------------------------------  % Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 20:13:49 +0100-+ From: Edd Blackburn - Stout <EDD@VAXIS.ORG>-Y Subject: Re: Ken Olsen (and DEC History), was: Re: Escape sequences not filtered in VMS M 9 Message-ID: <iss.3e6f.3b630f06.b8efa.1@mx2.west.saic.com>4  < On Saturday, July 28, 2001, at 05:04 , Hunter Goatley wrote:  2 > On Fri, 27 Jul 2001 23:46:18 +0100, Steve Reece ! > <SYSTEM@ipl.demon.co.nospam.uk>s > wrote: >dJ >> Although I fundamentally agree with Frank, a few there are a few thingsH >> that PC mail packages have managed to get right that VMS mail in both> >> its command line and DECW interfaces could be improved in :C >> - maintaining an address book rather than relying upon logicals,o@ >> distribution files, remembering addresses or doing REPLYs to;F >> - being able to do a REPLY/ALL/EDIT/EXTRACT to reply to a number of0 >> people at once without typing their names in. >$G > PMDF MAIL is what VMS Mail should have evolved to.  These things, anduI > full MIME support and lots more, are provided by PMDF MAIL on VMS.  And + > it's completely compatible with VMS Mail.a >2D > Note: I work on PMDF now, so I suppose this post could be seen as 
 > biased. ;-)c >R > Hunter > ------; > Hunter Goatley, Process Software, http://www.process.com/c; > goathunter@goatley.com     http://www.goatley.com/hunter/a  . Any chance of PMDF having a hobbyist solution?   -- Edd Blackburn - Stouto! Senior Pensions Officer (Systems)\ Lloyds TSB Group Pensionst   --" VMS			 - 	One OS to Rule them all. 				One OS to Find them." OS X		 - 	One OS to bring them all" 				And in the Darkness Bind them.   ------------------------------  % Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 15:42:02 -0400 ' From: Howard S Shubs <howard@shubs.net>"Y Subject: Re: Ken Olsen (and DEC History), was: Re: Escape sequences not filtered in VMS Ma< Message-ID: <howard-FF1B62.15420128072001@enews.newsguy.com>  ) In article <nRD87.5399$%L5.76226@insync>,t6  LESLIE@209-16-45-102.insync.net (Jerry Leslie) wrote:  D > Perhaps someone would build and market the Frank da Cruz-specified > keyboards,  ' Paint it green, or go all alliterative?s -- p Howard S ShubsD "Run in circles, scream and shout!"  "I hope you have good backups!"   ------------------------------  % Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 14:58:46 -0400e' From: "Bill Todd" <billtodd@foo.mv.com>y) Subject: Re: My final take on the subject ( Message-ID: <9jv22c$6hr$1@pyrite.mv.net>  1 "Jeff Killeen" <Jeff@IDM-IO.com> wrote in messageo5 news:3Dy87.107036$l%.13213933@typhoon2.gnilink.net...e@ > > It is foolishness to steer people away from your high marginC > > product.  Yes, folks are going to go there (NT) but encouraging-E > > that is silly as IBM full well knows, and others have recognized.m= > > Pick up *all* the needed revenues in servicing NT whether11 > > hardware or software support?  Bwah-ha-ha-ha.  >u6 > I continue to see this foolishness in this newsgroup  G Just in case it wasn't clear to you, Rob is on your side of this issue.u    also that Compaq wantsm: > to steer folks from its high margin products to Windows.  H What Compaq *wants* may not be entirely clear, but what it's effectivelyL doing (steering folks from its high-margin products to some other vendor) is
 clear indeed.i     If Compaq moves:; > its customers anywhere from OpenVMS it would be to Tru64.4  I I'm afraid I have bad news for you (and for Compaq):  customers decide ong their own where they'll move.p     Compaq has come L > to the same conclusion IBM and HP have - the enterprise world is not going# > to Windows anytime in the future.e  L If it has come to that conclusion (which seems extremely doubtful), then its@ Alpha decision is even more incompetent than it already appears.  (   If OpenVMS users are moved anywhere it > would be to Tru64.  L I expect that at least many of them will decide that if they have to move atL all, it will be to some vendor whose platforms promise to be well and stably supported over time.  9   As one who has been closely following the announcements I > from Compaq over the last 6 months it appears to this observer that theaK > heart of their strategy will be Tru64.  The camp that was "the enterprise F > world will be  moving to Windows" died the death of market share not9 > materializing with Windows 2000 like it was suppose to.   E No:  they appear to be alive and well in Houston, and likely to be intE control until such time as the BoD or the stockholders kick them out.a     Tru64 clusteringA > has been significantly enhanced and Tru64 is being ZLE enabled.o  L BFD.  Meanwhile, Linux is being given enough clustering goodies (from CompaqK as well as the rest of the world) to make Tru64 (and likely the rest of thehL Unix crowd, with the possible exception of Solaris) superfluous by about the. time that its port to IA64 has been completed.  
   IMO OpenVMSeF > and NSK users should keep a close eye on Tru64 and not worry about a forcedL > march to Windows - it just makes no business or technical sense for Compaq% > to force its users over to Windows.h  L 'Business and technical sense' and 'Compaq' really do not coexist happily in the same sentence.  $   Windows is all forms is becoming a > nasty low margin business...  I Which recent events prove Compaq is hell-bent on pursuing, right down thee tubes.   - bill   ------------------------------  % Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 14:46:16 -0600a2 From: Eugene A Zharkov <zharkov@vista-control.com>, Subject: Passing a socket to another process1 Message-ID: <3B632497.EACDA07B@vista-control.com>   : I have found in comp.os.vms an example of passing a socket4 to another process that is based on the sys$creprc's: prc$m_netwrk option. But there is still a couple of things$ that I am not sure how to deal with.  < 1. The prc$m_netwrk is not documented very well. Maybe there> is a better (documented) way of doing this (on VMS 7.1/UCX 5.0 and higher).  ; 2. If my process is started by inetd, I can open the sockets> using the socket(TCPIP$_AUXS) call. But I can't make my master6 server open/pass the socket in the way that would make8 TCPIP$_AUXS to work. I noticed, for example, that the bg5 device created by inetd has a "Reference count" of 0.t8 Mine is 1. What does inetd do to make the bg device stay" alive with the reference count 0 ?   Thanks,s Eugene    > -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----A http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!i> -----==  Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----   ------------------------------  # Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 22:57:11 GMTr# From: ualski <ualski@earthlink.net>t% Subject: Q: VXT2000, a nice terminal?a- Message-ID: <3B63433E.6829736A@earthlink.net>e  6 I came across a VXT2000 in a local surplus joint today4 and got the idea that a smaller CRT would be nice in place of my VR290.  9 I'd like to solicit the group for opinions on the VXT2000a7 as a replacement for my VR290 hanging off an MV3100-38.l7 I do know that the VXT2000 is an X-terminal like devicea8 but don't know any details.  Is the VXT2000 a reasonable6 performer, does it have everything in firmware or does2 something get downloaded?  If so, is that software6 easy to get for someone with a hobbyist license?  (ie,7 in an anonymous ftp place somewhere). Finally, is fifty 1 bucks too much to offer the guy for the terminal?      Thanks in advance for the help.    -- Aaron Sliwinski   ------------------------------  % Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 00:54:36 +01004) From: nic <nic@noaspm.python.demon.co.uk>.) Subject: Re: Q: VXT2000, a nice terminal?s9 Message-ID: <3B6350BC.1F8D66BC@noaspm.python.demon.co.uk>   
 ualski wrote:e  8 > I came across a VXT2000 in a local surplus joint today6 > and got the idea that a smaller CRT would be nice in > place of my VR290. >h; > I'd like to solicit the group for opinions on the VXT2000p9 > as a replacement for my VR290 hanging off an MV3100-38.t9 > I do know that the VXT2000 is an X-terminal like devicet: > but don't know any details.  Is the VXT2000 a reasonable8 > performer, does it have everything in firmware or does4 > something get downloaded?  If so, is that software8 > easy to get for someone with a hobbyist license?  (ie,9 > in an anonymous ftp place somewhere). Finally, is fifty 3 > bucks too much to offer the guy for the terminal?t  G If you want a smaller terminal, I suggest physically swapping the VR290dH with the VRC-16 which comes with the vxt. Ignore the H and S BNC sockets but use the RGB as normal.  < The VXT software itself is on the current freeware disk, andE downloadable (of course) from the Compaq freeware website. It's quiteRG fun, but runs out of memory too soon for my liking, fill the expansion*eF with 4 MB 70 ns parity SIMMs to get any reasonable use out of it.  MOP loads from a VMS system.  / (*under lid, plug in board with 3 72 pin slots)l  H The upside is there is no hard disks to maintain and gives you X windowsB in a neat package, loads (boots) quicker than an average VMS boot.E Downside is when too many windows are open it gets short of memory. I C had a VXT2000 for a while, but swapped it for a 3100-76 as Netscapea crashed it too many times.  ) Have fun which ever way you decide to go!o   Regards, Nic Clews (home)r   ------------------------------   End of INFO-VAX 2001.417 ************************