Bruno Levy
My brand new computer !
- does not fit in my backpack (bad !)
- runs Unix (good !)
- OS does not have AI extension that I don't want (good !)
- 32 Kb of main memory, I'll need to optimize hashtag#geogram a bit (good !)
Mar 4 at 9:03pmWeb
Show threadDougMerritt (log😅 = 💧log😄)Mar 4

@BrunoLevy01
My late friend Bill Jolitz of 386BSD fame originally ran Unix on a PDP 11/45 on the Berkeley campus -- for a biology department or something.

We used to chat a lot. He was a hell of a guy and a great Unix expert; I miss him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jolitz
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/386BSD
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Software_Distribution

William Jolitz - Wikipedia

Show threadEric GoodwinMar 4
@BrunoLevy01 @cstross I learned assembly on a PDP11! Always had a soft spot for them. Looks great!
Show threadBonkersMar 4

@auxonic @BrunoLevy01 @cstross I learned its assembly on a Soviet clone :)

Not even assembly, l was writing machine code in octal numbers :)

Show threadan actual busMar 5
@bonkers @auxonic @BrunoLevy01 @cstross Hours of fun, I bet 😆
Show threadBruno LevyMar 6
@bonkers @auxonic @cstross did that on an Apple][+ (its ROM monitor had a disassembler but no assembler!)
Show threadBonkersMar 6
@BrunoLevy01 @auxonic @cstross well, we didn't have Macs in the USSR, alas. Someone could smuggle a ZX Spectrum, but I was less lucky.
Show threadBruno LevyMar 6
@bonkers @auxonic @cstross not a mac, an Apple][ (dates back when apple was still manufacturing real computers, that you could open, repair, modify etc...)
Show threadBonkersMar 6
@BrunoLevy01 @auxonic @cstross ah, right, pre-Macintosh, which is also ancient by now ;)
Show threadJyrgen NMar 6
@bonkers @auxonic @BrunoLevy01 @cstross As a student I did a bit of -11 assembly — great instruction set! The manual was a joy to read. (That was a time when I read CPU manuals on my commute to the university and SunOS manpages in bed before sleeping.)
The code ran not on a glorious beast like this, though, but on a mere Pro 350.
Show threadJyrgen NMar 7
@bonkers @auxonic @BrunoLevy01 @cstross And yes, only now re-reading your post I remember: The CPU manual showed that opcodes for each of the instructions, and they were so well organised that I think it must be (or, for most, have been if at all) relatively easy to learn them. So logical and structured!
Show threadBonkersMar 7

@jyrgenn @auxonic @BrunoLevy01 @cstross yes, it was pretty easy to grasp, even for a schoolboy (I was around 7th or 8th grade if I recall it right). The coolest thing, it helped me understand how computers work.

I'm really puzzled by today's programmers who code in something like JavaScript and have no idea what's happening on the CPU level.

Show threadFaraiweMar 4
@BrunoLevy01 SNORT
Show threadLisPiMar 4
@BrunoLevy01 I wonder how much of the OS it can keep in memory at once and how much is paged out.

32Kb sounds like a tight squeeze for a full UNIX.
Show threadBruno LevyMar 6
@lispi314 yes, I agree, does not sound possible, maybe I am completely wrong and it was much more than that, need to find more info on this.
Show threadRon JeffriesMar 4
@BrunoLevy01 you go, girl!
Show threadJohn GriffithMar 4

@BrunoLevy01

Macro-11

Show threadSomeGadgetGuyMar 5
@BrunoLevy01 and hopefully it comes with a free Frogurt (which would be good)!
Show threadMike JohnsonMar 5
@BrunoLevy01 and in California this will automatically provide an age signal 🎉
Show threadBruno LevyMar 6
@mrj yes, besides the color of my beard !
Show threadMecrispMar 5
@BrunoLevy01 Wow, congratulations for this nice find! Wish you a lot of fun on this fine machine!
Show threadBruno LevyMar 6
@Mecrisp in fact this one is decorating the hall in the CS building in Berlin Freie Universitat, it's not functional unfortunately, but it still has a presence !
Show threadscrottie (he/him/them)Mar 5
@BrunoLevy01 stylin'!!
Show threadloptaMar 5
@BrunoLevy01 KB or K words? ;-)
Show threadBardMoss the Bodhi Linux GuyMar 5

@BrunoLevy01
You have a wide range of OSs to run on that. According to Wikipedia, various models of the PDP 11 could run:

BATCH-11/DOS-11, DSM-11, IAS, P/OS, RSTS/E, RSX-11, RT-11, Ultrix-11, Seventh Edition Unix, SVR1, 2BSD

My second PC was a PDT 11-78. Small box, two 8" floppy drives, VT-101 Monitor, with an LA-35 "DECWriter III" 7-pin printer. (I'm trusting my very old memory for those model numbers)

Show threadRev.Dr. Nikolai KingsleyMar 5

@BrunoLevy01

doom port when?

Show threadBruno LevyMar 6
@Nikolai_Kingsley if you have a RISC-V emulator for the PDP11, then you can run my RISC-V port of doom on it :-) (just need to find a way of plugging 2 Mb of RAM on it) 🤣
Show threadBryan Mar 5
@BrunoLevy01
So vi or ed?
Show threadBruno LevyMar 6
@bryan you'd be horrified.... emacs, I must confess.
Show threadBryan Mar 6
@BrunoLevy01
Emacs has a lot of cool stuff. lisp machine, Dired, magit, org mode, ERC the irc client, elfeed, etc etc. it just lacks a good text editor. 😈
Show threadBruno LevyMar 6
@bryan 😤🤣
Show threadBruno GirinMar 5
@BrunoLevy01
- thanks to this post and to @DamonHD re-tooting it, I now know you're on the fediverse (good, I hope!)
Show threadDamonHDMar 5

@brunogirin @BrunoLevy01 My B2B* networking skillz!

*Bruno-to-Bruno

Show threadPaul HouleMar 5
@BrunoLevy01 RSTS/E for the win!
Show threadPaul_IPv6Mar 21

@BrunoLevy01

nice!

if it doesn't fit in your backpack, just an excuse to get a new backpack. :)

of course, it probably doesn't have great battery life but it runs *both* kinds of UNIX. BSD *and* AT&T.

Show threadWeaselMar 23

@BrunoLevy01

Congratulations!

If you're serious about running Unix, I'd suggest trying to scrounge up the full 256KB of main memory. Back in 1979-1982 I ran the UCLA Math Department PDP-11. The Unix v6 kernel by itself was around 48KB; v7 was around 64KB with just a very few kernel buffers. You might be able to get it to run with 128KB, but remember userspace programs had to swap, not page, so the entire process has to fit resident in main memory to run.

Show threadBruno LevyMar 23
@weaselx86 it's nothing serious (unfortunately), the machine, in the hall of the CS dpt in Berlin, is not functional. But I have an Apple ][+ from 1979 that works like a charm (after servicing the PSU and changing the RIFA). But this one cannot run Unix !