[geeks] Tru64 licensing/availability...

[Will Mc Donald]

From: "Jochen Kunz" <jkunz at unixag-kl.fh-kl.de>
> On 2002.07.02 18:42 Will Mc Donald wrote:
>
> > anyone know what the score is with availability of Tru64 and its use
> > on Digital Personal Workstation 433au's?
> 1. Is it really a "au"? Only the "au" can run the SRM console that Tru64
> / OpenVMS / (Net|Open|Free)BSD needs. The "a" is NT only. (I heard of
> dirty tricks to convert the "a" to SRM, so that at least *BSD can run on
> it.)

Yep, that's what is says it is. Definately an "au". Quick run down of the
spec...

Processors/Chipset - 64 bit Alpha 21164, 433 MHz Pyxis chipset
Memory - 6 DIMM sockets support 1.5 GB of ECC SDRAM - currently fitted with 2
x 64Mb
ECC DIMMS giving 128Mb of memory
Disk controller - Q-Logic Ultra Wide SCSI controller, EIDE integrated on
motherboard (for CD-ROM only)
Disk - 2.1 GB 7200 rpm Ultra Wide SCSI HDD
Expansion Slots - 2 x 64-bit PCI graphics, 3 x PCI/ISA shared
Graphics - Matrox Millenium
BIOS - 1 MB Flash BIOS
Operating Systems - Windows NT 4.0 , Can run DIGITAL UNIX , OpenVMS , Linux
CD-ROM - ATAPI
Bus - PCI and ISA

> 2. This is a really nice machine. I am typing this on a PWS 500au
> running Tru64. You can expand the RAM with ordinary PeeCee (read cheap)
> ECC SDRAM up to 1.5 GB. The "au" has a Qlogic ISP1020 UW SCSI adapter.
> And EIDE, but who wants this? Graphics card can variate from PeeCeeish
> ATI / Matrox cards to the high end 3D 4d[456]0t cards from Intergraph.
> (On a par with the SGI Impact line.)
>
> With Tru64 you will get a solid, mature and performant UNIX with a
> strong BSD flavor that can Move Big Rocks (C) (R) (TM). It feels very
> comfortable after a litle bit GNUification. (read: somthing better then
> /bin/sh / /bin/csh.) I like it much more than e.g. HPUX. (This may
> depend on my preference for BSD Unix in general. ;-) )

Yeah, I'd like to stick with Tru64. So far, in the last 3 years of using Unix
type OSs I far prefer the more commercial offerings. I do appreciate linux for
its strengths and I dare say I'll like Open/Free/NetBSD too when I have spare
machines to run 'em on but I "Just Like" the way commercial variants fit
together. And yeah, they do require a touch of GNUification. :)

> > I'm thinking of picking one up to have a play with but it comes
> > with NT installed and I'm not sure if Tru64 media's provided.
> If it is a "au" you can get rid of NT easyly. The machine will run
> NetBSD perfectly. (You may have a bit trouble to get X11 working,
> depending on the graphics card.) I had NetBSD running on my 500au bevore
> I installed Tru64 and it was fun.

Obviously I'll have to cram it chock full of RAM and some bigger disks. Then
maybe dual boot between whatever takes my fancy.

> > Is it available anywhere under similar licensing to Solaris for
> > machines with < 1 CPU? Thoughts? Potential gotchas?
> You will need to spend 99$ for a media kit and a license, if this comes
> not with your machine. My machine was running NT when it arrived, but
> the Tru64 license was included. I don't know what the hobbyist license
> coveres, but AFAIK the base user license includes cc, no c++ and no
> advanced developement tools like the debugger. You can use AdvFS (You
> wane use AdvFS!) but not Nice Features (C) (R) (TM) like snapshots, no
> LVM, no Open3D (DEC incarnation of OpenGL), don't know about all that
> nifty cluster stuff. I will have a cluster fuck when I got that PC 164
> (500 MHz 21164A) running...

I checked with the seller and all he knows about is NT, no problem though. So
far I've turned up this...

http://www.tru64unix.compaq.com/noncommercial-unix/

Thanks again for the info.

Will.