I think it'd be fun to pick up an old PMAX DECstation 3100 and try to
get it working (though anything DEC put out was built like a tank, so I probably wouldn't have much of any work to do) and try getting a modern operating system on it like NetBSD, perhaps even try porting Slackware
to it.

The whole idea is nothing particularly outstanding, but I think old DEC hardware is super cool. Would it be a worthwhile endeavor??

--
I didn't choose the Slackware life. Oh wait, that's a big fat lie. But the Slackware life also chose me :)

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On 3/29/25 21:24, TronNerd82 wrote:

I think it'd be fun to pick up an old PMAX DECstation 3100 and try to
get it working (though anything DEC put out was built like a tank, so I probably wouldn't have much of any work to do) and try getting a modern operating system on it like NetBSD, perhaps even try porting Slackware
to it.

The whole idea is nothing particularly outstanding, but I think old DEC hardware is super cool. Would it be a worthwhile endeavor??

I think so. I've done a lot with those machines over the years; in
the 1990s I ran DNS servers, mail servers, etc on them both at home and
at work. They're great little machines.

At LSSM we have quite a few of them, though none are yet on exhibit. Sometime this summer we'll put a 3100 and probably a 5000/260 on the
exhibit floor, in multi-boot configurations with Ultrix and NetBSD.

I say go for it. They really are nice little machines. Beware of
dried-out or leaky capacitors in the power supply.

-Dave

--
Dave McGuire, President/Curator
Large Scale Systems Museum
New Kensington, PA

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