[Info-vax] Part number encoding

[Steve]

On 27 Dec 2009, 12:41, H Vlems <hvl... at freenet.de> wrote:
> On Dec 26, 4:33 pm, Michael Kraemer <M.Krae... at gsi.de> wrote:
>
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> > H Vlems schrieb:
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> > > On Dec 25, 11:03 am, Michael Kraemer <M.Krae... at gsi.de> wrote:
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> > >>H Vlems schrieb:
>
> > >>>I'm guessing here but may be if the first two characters are digits
> > >>>the product code refers to hardware, otherwise it's either software of
> > >>>documentation.
> > >>>The last two characters are either a patch level or a (hardware)
> > >>>variant of the product. Software was issued on various media, called H-
> > >>>kits.
> > >>>The reason was that all media kits had product codes that ended in -
> > >>>Hn.  When n was 9 you got 9 track PE magtape.
> > >>>Hans
>
> > >>Sure?
> > >>All CDs I know of start with "AG" and end with "BE", "RE", "XE" or "BS",
> > >>be it for VMS, DUNIX or Ultrix.
>
> > > Of course I'm not sure. The term H-kit was invented well before a cd
> > > was even thought of!
>
> > well, they could have kept the old nomenclature.
> > -HC for a CD kit for example.
>
> > > And by the time they were, it was to distribute music.....
>
> > When did the CD appear, 1981/83?
> > And when was the first time that software was shipped on CD?- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> Michael,
> the launch for players and media was in april 1983, in the
> Netherlands. IIRC it may have been introduced earlier in the USA and
> possibly Japan.
> No idea when Digital started shipping software on cd. The oldest media
> I've got are from 1994 (VMS V6.1 for VAX and AXP).
> The VAX cd is AG-PXKUC-RE, the firware cd ends in -BE, the Alpha cd
> ends in -RE
> Hans- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

By the time Alpha launched shipments must have been established on CD
as Alpha never had the capability to boot from tape.  The VAX 7000 to
Alpha 8400 upgrade included a mandatory CD-Rom drive too.

A story a friend of mine told me went along the lines of someone asked
"the keeper of the part numbers" at Digital for a new set of numbers
for the new PC range that was being launched.
"You want what????"
"New series of numbers for these new PCs we're launching.  can't be
anything like what we've had before."
"Get flippin' real..."

No idea whether the thread of the story is true, but all of the PC
products start with the characters FR-xxxxx-xx

Steve