INFO-VAX Mon, 18 Feb 2008 Volume 2008 : Issue 97 Contents: Re: Another Alpha turned off... Re: Another Alpha turned off... RE: Dilbert Does Virtualization Re: HP OpenVMS Tele-Marketing?!? Re: HP OpenVMS Tele-Marketing?!? Re: HP OpenVMS Tele-Marketing?!? New virus from China is undetectable by antivirus! Re: VMS license fees? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 21:14:36 +0100 From: "H Vlems" Subject: Re: Another Alpha turned off... Message-ID: <47b895b3$0$21632$bf4948fe@news.tele2.nl> "Michael Austin" schreef in bericht news:TgJtj.57824$Pv2.2579@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net... > It was a sad day for me today as I completed the final backup and making > sure everything I needed was removed from my trusty Alpha 2100 that has > been running firstdbasource.com and spacelots.com for the past 8-9 years. > I purchased (or traded services for systems) 2 Alpha 2100's during 1999. [snip] > > They have served me well -please pause for a moment of silence... > > Long Live Alpha. Michael, I fully agree with you. Admittedly, the first Alpha's had a somewhat plastic look-and-feel compared to say a VAX 8550 or 8600. But Digital build quality is as good as their operating systems. I run VAXstations that are somewhere between 15 and 20 years old. One or two VAXstation 4000's may have a dead video card. Other than that, all hardware is still in working order. I collected some VAXstation 4000-60's and -90A's for spare parts and they've been running alongside the original systems they were meant to replace! There's no piece of Intel based equipment that even comes close, half the life expectancy is what I see at home. Perhaps not statistically valid since I own just 8 pc's. If only that company had the same marketing skills as they had in engineering. Sigh. Hans ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:47:31 GMT From: ChrisQuayle Subject: Re: Another Alpha turned off... Message-ID: <7Q2uj.783$%W6.231@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net> Michael Austin wrote: > It was a sad day for me today as I completed the final backup and making > sure everything I needed was removed from my trusty Alpha 2100 that has > been running firstdbasource.com and spacelots.com for the past 8-9 > years. I purchased (or traded services for systems) 2 Alpha 2100's > during 1999. Both had just been retired at 2 separate Charlotte-based > companies and had been running at those sites for 4-5 years at that > time. I lost one of them about 3 years ago - bad I/O board and it has > been sitting silent acting as storage unit for a monitor/keyboard of the > other server. During Christmas week, I found 2 inexpensive DS10L's that > have taken the place of the 2100's. The "good" 2100/275 may live yet > again as a small Samba file server for a local law firm, but that is > still being negotiated. (hey, I may even make back the $1K I paid for it > :) ). The other will be taken to a local computer recycling center for > disposal after cannibalizing any remaining boards. (The SCSI card is now > in my DS10L :)) > > DEC made the very best hardware in the business. I do not see ANY > vendor that even comes close to competing. Along with the 2 2100's, I > also have been running a |d|i|g|i|t|a|l| Starion 266MhzPentI+32Mb mem. I > purchased it in '97 from a Frye's Electronics in Phoenix and it had been > a floor demo that ran from the time they received it in 1995 until I > bought it. In 1999, I wiped Windows95 off of it and installed Caldera > Linux. It's sole purpose in life since 1999 is to keep my DSL IP > address in sync with my Dynamic DNS provider ZONEEDIT.COM In 2000 the > primary port on the IDE controller died in such a way that there was no > more "C:" drive. I created a boot-floppy that stays in the floppy drive > and boots, then turns control over to the D: drive... It has been doing > this now for 8+ years - headless. I have a feeling the Starion is dying > as the fan gets loud at times and the box reboots itself every couple > months. I have a feeling my 6 year old Dell box will replace its > functionality - but do not think it will last as long as the Starion > has... almost 13 years - almost as long as the 2100's. > > They have served me well -please pause for a moment of silence... > > Long Live Alpha. Agreed - Have run several Alpha machines here, the most long lived being the 500/400 workstation bought from a fire sale in 1998. Less than a year old when bought and except for yearly clean and de-dust, hardly switched off in nearly 10 years of continuous use. I couldn't believe how fast it was initially and would still be competitive now, were it not for the fact that there's little support in open source for Tru64 and Alpha. Even Linux Alpha support is dying. It was switched off in January in favour of Sun Sparc / Solaris 10 (free), once all the tools had been ported. Something more mainstream, one of the last independant processors, not intel and loads of cheap s/hand hardware. Just can't ignore the logic. One thing I don't fully agree with is the bit about the "best hardware in the business". This may have been true in the days of the old big iron stuff like 6000 series vax etc, but some of the later w/s boxes were very plasticky - the 500/400 case has insubstantial plastic sides with retaining tabs that fall off etc. As for their pc's, lets not even discuss that :-). If you want to see engineering integrity, take the lid off a Sun Ultra II, for example or nearly any of the Sun or Compaq servers of that period. Presswork and mech design equal to anything dec ever made. Dec were first and foremost engineers, but the rot set in once the bean counters started running the business and they started to get too greedy. But, some of the best minds and creative engineering culture in the business, definately. Long live Alpha - indeed. The 500/400 may find something else to do, or the torch will be passed on... Chris -- ---------------------- Greenfield Designs Ltd Electronic and Embedded System Design Oxford, England (44) 1865 750 681 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 20:57:33 +0000 From: "Main, Kerry" Subject: RE: Dilbert Does Virtualization Message-ID: > -----Original Message----- > From: JF Mezei [mailto:jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca] > Sent: February 13, 2008 1:49 PM > To: Info-VAX@Mvb.Saic.Com > Subject: Re: Dilbert Does Virtualization > > Wilm Boerhout wrote: > > on 12-2-2008 14:48 Larry Kilgallen wrote... > >> > http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/images/dilbert20183362080 > 212.gif > > > > I have already included it in one of my presentations! > > > Anyone surprised that Kerry Main hasn't yet jumped into this > conversation ? Since virtualisation is a pet subject of his, I expected > him to provide some comments in this accurate documentary of > virtualisation projects. To busy with real work .. I did save the Dilbert files though. :-) Regards Kerry Main Senior Consultant HP Services Canada Voice: 613-254-8911 Fax: 613-591-4477 kerryDOTmainAThpDOTcom (remove the DOT's and AT) OpenVMS - the secure, multi-site OS that just works. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 11:06:51 -0800 (PST) From: AEF Subject: Re: HP OpenVMS Tele-Marketing?!? Message-ID: On Feb 17, 10:33 am, billg...@cs.uofs.edu (Bill Gunshannon) wrote: > In article <47b7cedb$0$14031$c3e8...@news.astraweb.com>, > JF Mezei writes: > > > Tad Winters wrote: > > >> Your best bet is to waste their time. Try these out: > > > How would they react if you were to start asking them questions as if > > you were the one doing the survey ? > > > Don't even give them the opportunity to start asking their questions :-) To Tad and JF quoted above: Not all calls are done by a person! I used to (and still occasionally do) get calls with silence. I say hello, hello, and there is no one there. For some calls, when I let my answering machine get it, the result is a dial tone blasted on the speaker. In a few seconds it's done and things are back to normal. I don't think your methods will be very effective with these-type calls! > > You people don't place much value on your own time, do you? > > bill To Bill: I find it interesting that you find time to discuss it here! ;-) Bill, how many telemarketing calls are you getting a day (before and after signing up with the DNC list)? I still get a few, but it is much, much fewer than before I signed up. I used to get several a day. Now I get at most one or two a week. While it's not perfect, it's still a big improvement, and that's great. AEF ------------------------------ Date: 17 Feb 2008 21:18:51 GMT From: billg999@cs.uofs.edu (Bill Gunshannon) Subject: Re: HP OpenVMS Tele-Marketing?!? Message-ID: <61rmlrF20ca55U1@mid.individual.net> In article , AEF writes: > On Feb 17, 10:33 am, billg...@cs.uofs.edu (Bill Gunshannon) wrote: >> In article <47b7cedb$0$14031$c3e8...@news.astraweb.com>, >> JF Mezei writes: >> >> > Tad Winters wrote: >> >> >> Your best bet is to waste their time. Try these out: >> >> > How would they react if you were to start asking them questions as if >> > you were the one doing the survey ? >> >> > Don't even give them the opportunity to start asking their questions :-) > > To Tad and JF quoted above: > > Not all calls are done by a person! I used to (and still occasionally That has been illegal in the US for well over a decade. Thus the reason for the (in)famous Simpsons episode where Homer buys an automatic phone-caller cheap. > do) get calls with silence. I say hello, hello, and there is no one > there. For some calls, when I let my answering machine get it, the > result is a dial tone blasted on the speaker. In a few seconds it's > done and things are back to normal. I don't think your methods will be > very effective with these-type calls! > >> >> You people don't place much value on your own time, do you? >> >> bill > > To Bill: > > I find it interesting that you find time to discuss it here! ;-) I get to pick the time when I post to USENET. Or maybe you haven't noticed that sometimes I am gone for days at a time. What I do with my time should be up to me, not some ass trying to sell me something I don't want. If I did, they wouldn't have to come looking for me. > > Bill, how many telemarketing calls are you getting a day (before and > after signing up with the DNC list)? How many are acceptable? How many are too many? The DNC List promised an end to them. It has had no noticable effect on the nmber I get. > I still get a few, but it is > much, much fewer than before I signed up. I used to get several a day. > Now I get at most one or two a week. While it's not perfect, it's > still a big improvement, and that's great. I pay for my phone service, not them. One is too many. My next house will probably not have a phone. I will rely on my cell and not give the number out. bill -- Bill Gunshannon | de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n. Three wolves billg999@cs.scranton.edu | and a sheep voting on what's for dinner. University of Scranton | Scranton, Pennsylvania | #include ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:21:47 -0800 (PST) From: AEF Subject: Re: HP OpenVMS Tele-Marketing?!? Message-ID: <50b9ac09-748d-4947-af8d-0ffa74cb80b2@o77g2000hsf.googlegroups.com> On Feb 17, 4:18 pm, billg...@cs.uofs.edu (Bill Gunshannon) wrote: > In article , > AEF writes: > > > > > On Feb 17, 10:33 am, billg...@cs.uofs.edu (Bill Gunshannon) wrote: > >> In article <47b7cedb$0$14031$c3e8...@news.astraweb.com>, > >> JF Mezei writes: > > >> > Tad Winters wrote: > > >> >> Your best bet is to waste their time. Try these out: > > >> > How would they react if you were to start asking them questions as if > >> > you were the one doing the survey ? > > >> > Don't even give them the opportunity to start asking their questions :-) > > > To Tad and JF quoted above: > > > Not all calls are done by a person! I used to (and still occasionally > > That has been illegal in the US for well over a decade. Thus the > reason for the (in)famous Simpsons episode where Homer buys an > automatic phone-caller cheap. Really? When I lived in Brooklyn I got automated phone calls from NYC mayors. Are you sure? > > > do) get calls with silence. I say hello, hello, and there is no one > > there. For some calls, when I let my answering machine get it, the > > result is a dial tone blasted on the speaker. In a few seconds it's > > done and things are back to normal. I don't think your methods will be > > very effective with these-type calls! > > >> You people don't place much value on your own time, do you? > > >> bill > > > To Bill: > > > I find it interesting that you find time to discuss it here! ;-) > > I get to pick the time when I post to USENET. Or maybe you haven't > noticed that sometimes I am gone for days at a time. What I do with > my time should be up to me, not some ass trying to sell me something > I don't want. If I did, they wouldn't have to come looking for me. I *did* put in the ";-)". In the old days they came knocking at your door. And there was no "do-not-knock list". And: I'm glad you give us your valuable time from time to time. > > > > > Bill, how many telemarketing calls are you getting a day (before and > > after signing up with the DNC list)? > > How many are acceptable? How many are too many? The DNC List promised > an end to them. It has had no noticable effect on the nmber I get. Zero. One. I'm not familiar with any promises and so cannot comment. I'm sorry it hasn't helped you. I don't know why it hasn't helped you. Hey, I find quite a few things in life "unacceptable", but significant improvements are always welcome. You do what you can. > > I still get a few, but it is > > much, much fewer than before I signed up. I used to get several a day. > > Now I get at most one or two a week. While it's not perfect, it's > > still a big improvement, and that's great. > > I pay for my phone service, not them. One is too many. My next house > will probably not have a phone. I will rely on my cell and not give > the number out. > > bill > > -- > Bill Gunshannon | de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n. Three wolves > billg...@cs.scranton.edu | and a sheep voting on what's for dinner. > University of Scranton | > Scranton, Pennsylvania | #include AEF ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 17:17:10 -0800 (PST) From: ultradwc@gmail.com Subject: New virus from China is undetectable by antivirus! Message-ID: if you are not running on OpenVMS, then read this and be worried ... http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/15/BU47V0VOH.DTL ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:56:00 +1030 From: Jeremy Begg Subject: Re: VMS license fees? Message-ID: <47B916E8.6090007@vsm.com.au> Hello Dan, > Indeed. I have a file cabinet drawer full of license PAKS originally purchased > for an 11/780 in the early eighties (including a host of unlimited VMS and > layerd product licenses) that were transferred as part of an Alpha upgrade and > are still good. Too bad there's no interest in the Alpha aside from me.... Just be careful with your terminology. If they really were "transferred as part of an Alpha upgrade", the upgrade probably involved reduced licence fees for the new AlphaServers on the basis that the VAX licences were revoked by DEC. The licence PAKs and the VAXes might still be around but it doesn't mean you still have a right to run the VAX software. (I've been involved in a few VAX->Alpha upgrades like this, and every time the VAX licences were traded in for Alpha equivalents, but physical return of the VAXes or their licence PAKs was not demanded.) On the other hand if you're referring to the Alpha licences you received then it's very likely they're still valid. Of course, in most cases a licence merely allows you to run the software version that was current at the time the licence was issued. Only a software maintenance agreement allows you to upgrade your software. (That said, no doubt there are plenty of sites which have upgraded software without a software maintenance agreement.) Regards, Jeremy Begg (replace nospam by jeremy to email) ------------------------------ End of INFO-VAX 2008.097 ************************