[Info-vax] HP adds OpenVMS Mature Product Support beyond the end of Standard Support

[Bill Gunshannon]

In article <lchjb3$94r$1 at iltempo.update.uu.se>,
	Johnny Billquist <bqt at softjar.se> writes:
> On 2014-01-31 11:40, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>> In article <lcgn57$pgm$1 at iltempo.update.uu.se>,
>> 	Johnny Billquist <bqt at softjar.se> writes:
>>> On 2014-01-31 07:24, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>>>> But don't think it is only Unix that is going to outlast VMS, the VAX's
>>>> great-grandfather the PDP-11 is now scheduled to be around in some very
>>>> critical positions until at least 2050.  I wonder what OS or if it is a
>>>> bare metal operation.
>>>>
>>>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/19/nuke_plants_to_keep_pdp11_until_2050/
>>>>
>>>> Hmmm....   Maybe that's why some guy bought all that IP from Mentec...
>>>
>>> If I were to guess, they would be running RSX.
>>> And yes, there are still PDP-11 CPUs being made. So the PDP-11 did
>>> manage to outlive the VAX.
>>
>> It also outlived the Alpha dn I have little doubt it will outlive
>> the Itanium.
> 
> Good point. :-)
> 
>>> I know of plenty of places still running PDP-11s in business critical
>>> places. Some are being replaced by emulated machines, though.
>>>
>>
>> If we could just get some fabbed with todays tech.  Just think what
>> a performance jump you would get with just the process shrink.  Let's
>> see, then we need SATA controllers.  How about modern (external)
>> memory management?  Now, where's my plans for that PDP-11 laptop....
> 
> You could an enormous performance jump. But what are you talking about 
> with memory management? There is nothing wrong with the MMU in the 
> PDP-11. The only problem the PDP-11 had was the age old thing Bell said 
> already in 1973 or so. Too few address bits...
> Not that this obstacle can't be worked around, but that is the only 
> serious problem I can see.

Exactly.  I would like to see it "worked around".  I have a 6809 with
16 address lines.  It has 512K of memory and I have seen this machine
with as much as 2 meg.  I would like to see a PDP-11 with more than
2 Meg of memory.

Of course, being as they are still being made, it would be real
interesting to see a new PDP-11 with more address lines, too. :-)
There I go dreaming again.  :-)  But, you have to admiit, it could
be a lot of fun.

Hmmm..   Let's see...  How many overlays would it take to get Open
Office running on a PDP-11?   :-)

bill


-- 
Bill Gunshannon          |  de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n.  Three wolves
billg999 at cs.scranton.edu |  and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
University of Scranton   |
Scranton, Pennsylvania   |         #include <std.disclaimer.h>