[cumbria_lug] DEC Legacy Event, April 17th-18th 2010, Windermere

[Mark Wickens]

On Mon, 2009-11-23 at 11:41 +0000, stig-clug at spodbox.org wrote:
> Mark Wickens wrote:
> > Hey LUG subscribers,
> >
> > It's been very quiet lately - hopefully that means you've all managed to
> > upgrade to 9.10 without a hitch ;)
> >
> > This email is just to let you know that I'm organising an event in
> > Windermere next year that hopefully should be of interest to some of
> > you. It'll involve a lot of DEC hardware (both old DEC kit, middling
> > Compaq kit and new HP kit!) and although it doesn't directly relate to
> > Linux I'm hoping that there will be some focus on the development of
> > Unix and the part that DEC had to play. I'll be demonstrating my Itanium
> > ZX6000 workstation running Debian, and if there's interest we could look
> > at Linux on Alpha hardware such as the DS10L (which is a very capable 1U
> > rackmount alpha server that can be picked up for peanuts).
> >
> > If you know anyone else who might be interested please let them know.
> > There will be the obligatory drinks on Saturday evening and possibly a
> > walk on Sunday. Would be good to finally meet some of you.
> >
> > Regards, Mark
> 
> I upgraded without a hitch, but then its on a server box so cuts down on
> the complications.
> 
> oooh - old DEC kit.  (Checks spare room.....   down to 2 Alpha Multia
> UDB now, I gave the PWS 433a to mono.org as they needed a new server)
> I can fire one up and see if it still works with Debian on it, although
> these days I think they're both probably dead.

Well, you know DEC kit - it tends to run and run. I'm re-acquainting
myself with DOT matrix technology in the form of an LA75+ DEC printer,
which when connected to a VT terminal lets you print stuff out no matter
what host you're physically attached to. I'm amazed at how my 'mindset'
on printing has changed having used laser printers exclusively for the
past eight years or so - I was surprised, for instance, when I set the
printer to 12 pitch instead of 10 and the letters came out smaller - now
why would I have forgotten that dot matrix printers can do more than one
size of text?

I'm updating the website as more people indicate what they're bringing,
and it is very early days, but so far it's encouraging (we've got a
PDP/8 coming for instance). Come join us!


Still, all good fun...

Regards, Mark.