Please note: I sent the following post to "alt.sys.pdp11" and
"vmsnet.pdp-11". While I presume that almost all of the RT-11
people also follow those two news groups, I thought that there
may be a few who don't. It is certainly on topic, since V5.03
of RT-11 was released in 1985.
After working with RT-11 for over 20 years starting with V2.0,
I was asked about Y2K patches for V5.04G by a customer who
finally could wait no longer. I had already produced these Y2K
patches for myself, but there seemed to be little if any interest among
commercial users in general. So when I set out to provide this
customer with the fixes needed to run that version when it was to be
used after 31-Dec-1999, it was not necessary to fix everything in
V5.04G. Only 7 of the utility programs were needed to be made
Y2K compatible, i.e. DIR, PIP, LINK, LIBR, IND, BUP and
MACRO. While I am sure that further work could be considered
if required (and there was interest), these 7 are probably the most
important and frequently used - along with the source code patches
needed for the monitor files. Note that these patches have been
in continual commercial use for many years without any problems
except that when they did their initial checkout, the dates of:
29-Feb-1999, 30-Feb-1999 and 31-Feb-1999 were found to
be acceptable to the DATE command. After working with RT-11
for so many years, I had finally accepted that bug as a feature and
forgotten to correct it in the KMOVLY.MAC file.
At this point, all of my Y2K work bubble is finished and complete,
and I would like to make these Y2K patches available to hobby
users. However, as far as I understand, only V5.03 of RT-11
qualifies to be used under the Supnik emulator for hobby use
free of charge. Since Megan Gentry has already provided some
source code patches for RMONSJ, RMONFB and KMOVLY
for V5.03 of RT-11, I thought that I could retro-fit the Y2K patches
made for V5.04G back into V5.03 so that hobby users could enjoy
a mostly Y2K version of RT-11 at this time.
I would therefore ask for four things:
1. If anyone, including Megan Gentry, would be willing to host
the Y2K patches, preferably the actual final SAV file which should
not pose a problem since the distribution SAV file for each of the
7 utilities mentioned is already freely available for download under
the restriction that it be used by hobby users under the Supnik emulator.
2. How much interest there actually is in having V5.03 made as Y2K
compatible as possible at this time.
3. If there is anyone who would be interested in helping with a beta test.
4. If there is anyone who is interested in helping with any questions as
the exactly what should be done, including how to insure that the legal
aspects are covered and that the code can not be taken over by any
commercial users, not that this latter aspect is likely at this time.
At this point, I intend to at the very least, to produce the Y2K patches
for one of the above utilities so that it can be seen that there is some
definite interest to begin the job.
Please note that while I have no work related projects that need to be
done at this point, I have a large number of household jobs that have
already been delayed for far too long and that it may take a few months
before I get into high gear on the Y2K patches for V5.03 project.
But, as wives have indicated on many occasions, there is often many
a slip between the cup and the lip and she may have other plans that I
am not aware of right now. However, I presently consider myself
totally in the hobby category at this point in time, especially and in
particular as far as RT-11 is concerned.
This would allow Mentec to finalize any plans for hobby releases of
PDP-11 software, as has been indicated on their web site for over two
months, but still nothing has been made public.
But in lieu of that happening - which would free up useful time for
other enhancements to RT-11, it is hopeful that at least the above
7 utilities in V5.03 of RT-11 could be completed for hobby users
sometime next year and perhaps before the end of 2000 if there is
sufficient interest - and I don't have too much snow to shovel starting
in December:-)
NOTE: The following paragraph is really only for "vmsnet.pdp-11"!!!!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, and completely contrary to what Stuart Brook implied some
months ago when he again complained that I was "whining" about
the lack of hobby use licenses for RT-11 by Mentec/Compaq/DEC,
I would be only too happy to see Mentec allow V5.07 to be made
available to hobby users at this time, as Compaq/DEC have already
done with current versions of VMS - and I understand at zero cost.
I have included this paragraph ONLY because in the past, there has
been this type of response from Stuart. If no adverse comments are
received from Stuart or anyone else, then I will assume that there are
no objections from Mentec as to the above course of action. I guess
that this paragraph can also be construed as a legal notice as to an
intended course of action.
Any and all feedback would be appreciated. Is there still anyone who
even cares? Also, in case anyone is interested, you can download
V5.03 at:
ftp://gatekeeper.dec.com/pub/digital/sim/software/rtv53swre.tar.Z
Sincerely yours,
Jerome Fine
Received on Fri Aug 11 2000 - 15:39:14 BST