Ken, (01)
Thanks for the detailed response. So my next question is, given that
a) we can get the box and b) Doug is willing to have us clone his system
and have a trusted person delete his personal stuff from the clone, how
long would it take to get a cloned system up and running? Are we
talking something like an evening's work for one or two people? (02)
If John Toole can shake loose a machine and we can get Doug to agree
this week, would you have some time next week to work on this? Since
I can't even spell TECO correctly any more let alone run it, it's unlikely
I'd be able to be of much use to make the clone and set up new accounts,
at least at the outset. Jonathan and Peter, are you interested in being
around to help out and learn the process? (03)
Here are some random comment on a few items in your last post: (04)
At 10:17 AM 2/13/2005, Ken Harrenstien wrote: (05)
>A couple notes about vanilla/clean TOPS-20: DEC has made all of the
>T10/T20 software available on a personal use basis. However, there
>have always been large amounts of non-DEC software and monitor
>modifications floating around the early Arpanet/Internet which were
>essential to any useful site on the network. Mark Crispin has been
>collecting this into what is intended to become a standard
>distribution for T20 hackers, and I suggest starting with that once we
>are ready for this step. (06)
Great suggestion. I found his web page but did not see a link to
the T20 hacker's distribution. I assume that you know him and
know how to get it. I noticed that he is into trebuchets. A very
good friend of mine built a full-scale trebuchet back in the early
1970s. Great fun, but it caused no end of fuss when he went off
to college and took it with him. A frat house with a trebuchet in
the courtyard is an awful thing to contemplate. My speciality was
laying siege to fortifications with war rockets. (07)
>My suggestion for a on-site museum exhibit would be to use something
>fairly good, so people get fast and excellent response and aren't kept
>waiting for their turn. (08)
I've mentioned the desire to have an on-site museum exhibit to John;
his concern is financing it (naturally), and keeping it running. I'd love
to see a kiosk with, say, four of them. That's the challenge with
demonstrating or exhibiting any kind of collaborative system, whether
it's NLS/Augment or the telephone; it takes at least two to tango. (09)
>Oh, that reminds me! If you want some historical veracity I will
>happily donate the original Alpha 3000/400 used to develop the KL
>emulator -- have kept every last bit of hardware, software, doc, and
>boxes/packaging that DEC sent to me for this purpose. Hint, hint,
>hint. It's a little slow by comparison with the Xeon, though :-) (010)
You should submit the system to the CHM. Here's a page that
describes how to donate an artifact: (011)
http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/donateArtifact/ (012)
There's a pointer to this donation submission form on that page. Don't
know wether they already have an Alpha, but the fact that it is a very
complete system, down to the boxes and packaging might be of interest.
They really do want people to go through the form because they have a
formal evaluation process. (013)
>All these could be part of a much larger "Networking in the 70s"
>protected ecosystem, but I'm digressing wildly. (014)
I like the idea! (015)
Philip Gust
Nouveau Systems, Inc. (016)
phone: +1 650 961-7992
fax: +1 508 526-8142 (017)
mailto: gust@NouveauSystems.com (018)
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