On October 28, you wrote:
> It seems the 11/730 is not very popular.  How hard is it to come about
> operating systems for these?  I assume they are only available second hand?

  Most definitely...The 11/730 hasn't been sold for many, many
years...it's a very old machine.  It was the slowest VAX ever shipped,
with the only possible exception being the MicroVAX-I.  It was, in its
day, a nice entry-level system for small companies or labs.

> Is there any practical use of a VAX other than the sheer joy of owning and
> operating one?  Not to say the enjoyment isn't worth keeping it around, but 
> I really know little of their uses these days.  I am curious as to what use
> one can be put to commercially.

  Depends on the VAX.  You can buy brand new, ridiculously fast VAXen
today.  It's important to keep in mind that the VAX isn't a
computer...it's a family of computers...that started back in the mid
70's and is still alive today.

  It's also important to realize that today's computer industry
creates a *perceived* need for insane amounts of speed, where such a
need rarely actually exists.  A 200MHz Pentium is orders of magnitude
faster (until it's asked to do lots of multitasking, anyway) than an
older VAX...but take, for example, a VAXstation 3100/M38.  It's a
roughly 3.8 MIPS machine.  Slow by today's standards, but plenty fast
enough for a low- to medium-traffic web server, or a mail server, or
something like that.  They actually work pretty damned well.

> Also, is there any kind of "VAX for Beginners" book/faqs?  I would love to
> some kind of an overveiw as to the general operations and components, etc...
> Any luck?  Or am I trying to learn black magic??? :)

  Some of it is indeed black magic...and that's the best part. :)

  Check out these URLs:

http://anacin.nsc.vcu.edu/~jim/mvax/mvax_faq.html
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/dec-faq/top.html
http://www.neurotica.com/dec-info

  Also, the NetBSD/vax FAQ, maintained by Gunnar Helliesen, is an
excellent source of info.  What's that URL again, Gunnar?


                        -Dave McGuire
                         mcguire@neurotica.com