[Simh] Off topic: ULTRIX question

[Gary Lee Phillips]

>If you want to run on a VAX or Alpha, I don't think Linux even is an
>option. You'll have to go with some BSD. NetBSD and OpenBSD both have
>support, although if we talk VAXen, I think the support is slightly
>better in NetBSD.

There is still Linux for Alpha, Johnny, though it's beginning to age
from lack of supporters. Debian for Alpha exists up through "Sid" I
think. CentOS also had an Alpha version last time I looked. I have run
the Debian versions and they pretty much work as they should. I've
never seen Linux for VAX at all, that's true.

I'm not personally concerned with security patches, as my machines are
not usually on the net at all. I live in a rural area where
connectivity is costly and not to be wasted. I use the machines mostly
for mathematical and engineering experiments and personal amusement.
I'm a radio amateur, and the Alphas are real nice for circuit
simulations and RF modeling, for instance. Fortran does pretty well
there. I raised my question because though the "unsupported
distribution tape" for ULTRIX 4.0 includes Gnu EMACS as a source
archive, it was clearly not actually ported or tested (as in, make
fails immediately despite README claiming otherwise.)

Since downloading large files is next to impossible here, I try to
know what I'm getting into before forking over $60 for a set of
distribution CDs. One of the BSD flavors might suit, but it's very
difficult to be sure from the descriptions that are offered. Clearly
VAX or Alpha aren't exactly high on their priority lists. Current
pages on both BSD sites link to non-existent pages on HP sites, for
instance.