Summary The problem. My two DECserver 90TL terminal servers, both with 1 MB of memory, live on a /22 network (in this post, 192.168.20.0 to 192.168.23.255). The only software a 1 MB unit can run, … »
XLISP-PLUS 3.05, Tom Almy’s Common-Lisp-flavoured descendant of David Betz’s small Lisp, is now running on my VAXstations under OpenVMS VAX 7.3: bignums, ratios, complex numbers, FORMAT, … »
My VAXstations now have Vim 9.2 (patch level 491, February 2026 source): the character-cell build for OpenVMS VAX, installed for all users with a DCL installer and a DCL uninstaller. It also turns … »
NetHack 3.4.3, built from the official source on my VAXstations with the distribution’s own VMS build procedures and DEC C, installed for all users as a kit with an installer and an uninstaller, … »
SWI-Prolog 3.2.6, Jan Wielemaker’s Prolog from the University of Amsterdam (the January 1999 tree), running on my VAXstations under OpenVMS VAX 7.3: Edinburgh syntax, the ISO-style built-ins of … »
My VAXstations now have Zip 3.0 and UnZip 6.0, the last official Info-ZIP releases, with the security fixes they never got. It was built on the VAX itself, with the compiler and build procedures that … »
I now have pForth 2.0.1, Phil Burk’s portable Forth, running on my VAXstations under OpenVMS VAX 7.3. This is an ANS-style Forth with 32-bit cells, double-cell words, local variables, floating … »
The Emacs kit for OpenVMS VAX installs three versions side by side: 19.28 from 1994, 21.2 from 2002 and 22.3 from 2008. Each is newer and bigger than the last. So how much does that cost on real VAX … »
My VAXstations now have REXX: Regina 3.3, the free implementation of IBM’s Restructured Extended Executor, as a kit for OpenVMS VAX 7.3, with the DCL lexical functions built in as REXX … »
My VAXstations now have SNOBOL4: the original Bell Labs SNOBOL4, the string-processing language with patterns as values, built from a 1997 public-domain C translation of its portable implementation, … »
My VAXstations now have Icon: the University of Arizona’s Icon 9.0, the interpreter, the compiler and the program library, as a kit for OpenVMS VAX 7.3. Icon is the language in which an … »
My VAXstations now have Modula-2: the Hamburg VAX-11 Modula-2 compiler, as a kit for OpenVMS VAX 7.3, which compiles itself. It is Niklaus Wirth’s language in the implementation of the DBPL … »
I’ve had this Digital Personal Workstation for about ten years, and have finally gotten OpenVMS running on it. I originally got it to try to get OpenGenera 2.0 running (under Unix), but never … »
Three weeks ago I released a kit with Emacs 19.28 and 21.2 for OpenVMS VAX 7.3. Today’s kit adds GNU Emacs 22.3 – the last Emacs with any VMS support in it – and makes it the … »
My VAXstations now run Poplog, the University of Sussex’s multi-language system: Pop-11 with its editor VED, Prolog, Common Lisp and Standard ML, all in one process. It comes as a binary kit for … »
My VAXstations now have Perl: Perl 5.8.4, as a binary kit for OpenVMS VAX 7.3 that needs no compiler on the machine it is installed on. It comes as a BACKUP saveset with a DCL installer and a DCL … »
I have been running GNU Emacs on my VAXstations under OpenVMS VAX 7.3, and today there is a kit other people can install: Emacs 19.28 and Emacs 21.2, terminal-only, side by side, with an installer and … »
I got a few of these DECserver 90TL units. They are a neat little device, with 8 RJ45 serial ports on the front, a 10Base-2 port on the top, a power port on the back and also a “hub port” … »
The VAXstations I have all connect to the outside world through a DEC MMJ port. This is a 6-pin/6-conductor cable very similar to an RJ12, but with the tab offset. Apparently Thrustmaster uses a … »
While working on these VAXen, I have discovered several tools that have been extremely useful: ODS2v2: This is a tool that allows you to read/write OpenVMS 7.3 disk images. This works nicely in my … »
Well, it’s time to try a new retrocomputing effort. I’ve recently picked up several old (late 1980s, early 1990s) era Digital VAX computers and am learning how to develop software for … »
Over the past two weeks, I set up a small Symbolics LAN, and thought I would share some of the process and findings. I will write a post about each item, but the topics already concluded cover: … »
I recently set up a LAN of my three XL Symbolics machines at home. The XL1201 which was having stability issues has been largely stabilized (thanks to help from David Schmidt). I will post more about … »
I’ve decided to participate in ProcJam 2016 this year. For a change of pace, I’m building a small roguelike in Clojure with a Unity3D front-end. This is an interesting challenge as Clojure … »
In preparation of doing some actual software engineering on Genera, I decided to take a look at the CLIM implementation on my MacIvory III Genera 8.3. There are a few steps to do first: Load System … »