[Info-vax] OT: Unix V6 on a PDP11. In your browser. In JavaScript.

[Bob Eager]

On Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:02:40 -0800, John Wallace wrote:

> On Dec 15, 8:22 pm, Bob Eager <news0... at eager.cx> wrote:
>> On Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:02:03 -0800, John Wallace wrote:
>> > On Dec 14, 2:11 pm, Paul Sture <p... at sture.ch> wrote:
>> >> On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:41:49 +0100, Jan-Erik Soderholm wrote:
>> >> > Paul Sture wrote 2011-12-14 13:00:
>> >> >> On Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:33:00 +0100, MG wrote:
>>
>> >> >>> For all the faults of the iPad and iOS, I do really miss the
>> >> >>> program "iSSH" a lot!  It included a very capable X server and
>> >> >>> it was able to run DECwindows with unpatched VMS V8.4 over SSH.
>> >> >>>  A very nice touch, if I may say so.  I even have a video on my
>> >> >>> website at DR (hosted at YouTube) demonstrating this.
>>
>> >> >> One of my friends uses his iPhone extensively for logging into
>> >> >> servers and checking the status of out of hours jobs.  He started
>> >> >> out by Jailbreaking it to get the apps he wanted, but last time I
>> >> >> enquired he didn't need to do that any more.
>>
>> >> > I tested a few telnet apps for my Android (SonyEricson Xperia 10)
>> >> > but never found anything that actualy "worked". I did get the
>> >> > "Username:" prompt sometimes but it usualy crashed soon after
>> >> > that.
>>
>> >> I really wouldn't recommend telnet for logging into remote servers.
>> >> I use ssh everywhere nowadays, even on my home LAN.
>>
>> >> Are there any decent ssh apps for Android?
>>
>> >> --
>> >> Paul Sture
>>
>> > Maybe someone round here will have tried Better Terminal Emulator
>> > Pro?
>>
>> > It's on my "when I get a roundtoit" list (but fairly low down). It
>> > costs a few dollars, and first attracted my attention because it's
>> > one way of getting SIMH precompiled for Android (other ways may come
>> > for free but involve too much effort for my available free time, e.g.
>> > starting from source, Android SDK, etc).
>>
>> > And when you've got SIMH, what else can you have? You can have VAX/
>> > VMS. Or a PDP11 and a PDP11 OS. Or... well, lots of things. I wonder
>> > if VAXELN target environment runs under SIMH (don't see why not,
>> > but).
>>
>> > How silly is that.
>>
>> > Part of the reason it's fairly low down my list is that I like a
>> > phone that works as a phone, primarily. I had a ZTE Blade (as a
>> > "free" upgrade) about a year ago but after a few weeks of poor
>> > battery life, poor touch compatibility with my fingers, poor signal
>> > handling in marginal areas (er, Oxford to Banbury a marginal area?),
>> > poor camera, etc I gave up. The price was right though.
>>
>> > Instead, I upgraded to a 2nd hand Nokia E71 (vintage 2008 or so)
>> > which does everything I need, even gets signal between Oxford and
>> > Banbury, has decent battery life, a keyboard, and a usable camera.
>> > Plus it runs my paid-for TomTom for Symbian, also from a few years
>> > ago (who needs up to date maps). But there's not much chance of the
>> > E71 running VMS (though in principle the Nokias can do VNC, I used to
>> > have VNC on my E65).
>>
>> > So, who's tried (or willing to try) Better Terminal Emulator Pro?
>>
>> I have. Works fine for me. I later read that the free version is good
>> enough for running SIMH, but they're both very cheap.
>>
>> I've been playing with SIMH for years (and am even writing a new
>> emulator using its framework). It's a good toy on my phone, even if it
>> only uses one of the cores!  .-)
>>
>> I've tried VMS and also BSD 4.2. Both were fine although I had to learn
>> some incantations to get the right keystrokes in there. I'm going to
>> have a go at UNIX v6 on the PDP-11, but since I've got an SBC6120 I
>> probably won't worry about OS/8...
>>
>> --
>> Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
>>  http://www.mirrorservice.org
>>
>> *lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor
> 
> Thanks for that. Maybe I move it slightly up my todo list then.
> 
> Wrt PDP11 running Unix V6: have you seen http://aiju.de/code/pdp11/
> which appears to be a PDP11 emulator written in JavaScript, running in
> your browser, emulating a PDP11 booting Unix V6 off an RK05? An emulated
> RK05, obviously, whose 2.5MB of data is initially on the other end of
> the Internet from where you are.
> 
> There was brief discussion of it in comp.sys.dec in late April when I
> first heard about it.
> 
> The things some people do in the name of science (or fun).

I hadn't seen that...I'll take a look!



-- 
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
 http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor