[Info-vax] Unix on A DEC Vax?

[Bob Koehler]

In article <49cb86f1-8fc5-4e9c-bb01-921e99ce470d at googlegroups.com>, haziz <hsaziz at gmail.com> writes:
> 
> I have a few questions:
> 
> Which Unix version to install on the Vax? Original UC Berkeley BSD Unix? Op=
> enBSD? NetBSD? Ultrix if I can get a legal copy? AT&T Unix? For emotional r=
> easons I may prefer to install some version of the original UC Berkeley BSD=
>  (1980s Bill Joy/Marshall Kirk McKusick Era), but will go with whichever is=
>  easier to install, the machine is newer (production started 1991) than the=
>  original BSD Unix versions. I would call it nostalgia except I never did u=
> se the original BSD Unix. Another consideration would be some version of AT=
> &T Unix if it will run.

   I'm not sure which versions of the various UNIX will run on that
   system, other than DEC's ULTRIX, but I'd be suprised if on of the
   free UNIX didn't.  I think AT&T probably will not.  It should be
   trivial to find out from the appropriate web sites.  I would not
   be suprised at a port of Linux in any state.
   
> 
> Is there a version of FreeBSD for the Vax?
> 

   I'm fairly sure there is, but I'm not sure if supports the model you
   have.

> If there is a functional VMS install on the machine's 4 hard drives (2 each=
>  in the machine and the auxilliary SCSI storage module), is there a way to =
> dual boot between Unix and VMS?

   You can have either UNIX or VMS on each disk, and file systems
   that either UNIX or VMS will understand, but you can't have UNIX and
   VMS on the same disk unless you have a controller that partitions
   the disk and presents itself as multiple drives (DEC's controllers
   didn't do that, but third party controllers did).

   It's trivial to select which disk to boot from.

   You can get software for UNIX that will provide limited support for
   mounting and reading VMS disks.  You most likely will not find
   software for VMS to access UNIX disks.

> 
> I presume that I can get some verison of Emacs running on this system, it d=
> oes not have to be recent. While Vi may be more historically correct on thi=
> s machine I much prefer emacs.

   emacs should run on any of the UNIX, and older emacs runs on VMS.  vi
   should ship with the UNIX, and vi emulators are widely available for
   VMS.
 
> Any suggestions or ideas?
> 
> My cell phone probably has significantly more computing power and far more =
> memory and storage than this "minicomputer", I am approaching this as a hob=
> byist. I hope to use the system to explore BSD Unix (and possibly AT&T Unix=
> ) further and do some C programming on it. I anticipate to be working purel=
> y from the command line. I may explore VMS also at some point.
> 
> Thanks.