[Simh] Getting SimH 4 past Beta stage?

[Mark Pizzolato]

On Sunday, December 18, 2016 at 10:22 AM, Paul Hardy wrote:
> I think that is the crucial point, that SimH 4.0 is tagged as a Beta, and hence
> the packaging systems (a) won't take it, and (b) won't take any other interim
> versions like 3.9 because they expect 4.0 to replace it imminently.
> 
> Note that this was observed on Raspbian, which is not a minority operating
> system - the 11 millionth Raspberry Pi shipped this month, not to mention all
> the upstream Debian installations.

3.9 has been out for 4.5 years AND it was a couple of years between 3.8-1 and 
3.9.  If they didn't find a way to update the their package repository to 3.9 any 
time in the past 6.5 years no one should get excited about it happening anytime 
soon either.

Meanwhile, the latest FULLY FUNCTIONAL simulators are always available in a 
few steps for anyone who wants any one of them directly from the github repo.

The new simulators don't require a user to have to go fishing around the web for boot ROM images and/or OS loading code which historically haven't been included in the results of the 'packaged simh' simulators I've seen, nor to have to rebuild them anyway to get the full set of functionality they may contain (i.e. network capabilities for VAX simulators).

Anyone who wants all the simulators (or merely one of them) need only:

	$ git clone https://github.com/simh/simh
	$ cd simh
	$ make {simulator name}

> So I ask again what are the plans for getting SimH 4.0 out of Beta status?

What I've said above notwithstanding, there may be a formal release sometime in the next 6 months.

- Mark

> Don't get me wrong, I think SimH and the folk that maintain and extend it are
> wonderful, but enquiringly minds want to know!
> 
> Regards,
> 
> --
> Paul Hardy |
> paul at paulhardy.net | www.pghardy.net |
> 
> On 27 Nov 2016, at 21:38, Johnny Billquist <bqt at softjar.se> wrote:
> 
> > On 2016-11-27 22:25, Henry Bent wrote:
> > Indeed, though packaging systems like to use released versions of
> > software, and users like to use whatever their packaging system offers
> > them.  Having any sort of formal, numbered SIMH release - call it 4.0
> > or
> > 3.99 or 7.5q for all that it matters - will encourage packaging
> > systems to update to that version, and will then expose more users to
> > the most current version of the software.  A very significant number
> > of changes have happened since the last formal release (3.9) and it
> > would seem appropriate to have a more modern version available to most
> users.
> 
> Right. But notice that his packaging system installed 3.8.1-5, so they are not
> even on 3.9...
> 
>    Johnny
> 
> >
> > -Henry
> >
> > On 27 November 2016 at 16:16, Johnny Billquist <bqt at softjar.se
> > <mailto:bqt at softjar.se>> wrote:
> >
> >    On 2016-11-27 21:12, Paul (lists) Hardy wrote:
> >
> >        Isn’t it time that SimH 4.x came out of Beta status and became the
> >        current release, so it gets picked up by the various package release
> >        systems?
> >
> >
> >
> >        I’ve just done apt-get install simh on a Raspberry Pi over a new
> >        Raspbian (Debian) install, and it still gets 3.8.1-5.
> >
> >
> >
> >        What’s the current timescale for shift to 4.x as the live
> >        version to happen?
> >
> >
> >    Hum. Isn't this something outside the control of simh? What version
> >    various packaging systems use is up to the packaging systems.
> >
> >    simh 3.9 was released many years ago, but apparently are still not
> >    picked up by the debian system you are using.
> >
> >            Johnny
> >
> >    --
> >    Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
> >                                      ||  on a psychedelic trip
> >    email: bqt at softjar.se <mailto:bqt at softjar.se>             ||
> >    Reading murder books
> >    pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
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> >
> >
> >
> >
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> 
> 
> --
> Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
>                                  ||  on a psychedelic trip
> email: bqt at softjar.se             ||  Reading murder books
> pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
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