Talk:RSTS/E

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The contents of RSTS-11 were merged into RSTS/E and they now redirect here. For the contribution history and old versions of the merged article please see its history; for its talk page, see here

Contents

[edit] RSTS-11 and RSTS/E

Should RSTS-11 be a separate article? I'm not sure. The RSTS/E article basically describes the final version of the OS, while the RSTS-11 article describes V4A. The path from one to the other is really just the usual software product evolution. There was a name change from V4 to V5, and a major added feature (extended memory support). But there were other releases with new features of similar magnitude.

I would suggest merging RSTS-11 back into this article by discussing the history of RSTS.

Some points on history:

  1. Sysgen using RT-11 appeared in V6B (from V4 to V6A it was done with DOS).
  2. Runtime systems existed around V5B but weren't really visible until V6B.
  3. DCL appeared in V8.0 if I remember right

and so on...

Paul Koning 14:33, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

  • Support merge -- For the reasons cited. Atlant 16:50, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge RSTS

Should RSTS-11 be a separate article? I'm not sure either. Seems a bit redundant, and I did it.

Call me a bit nit picky but our college went from V4A to V8-06 and the "usual software product evolution" in RSTS/E was MILES ahead of what we had before. I guess I think having an article that "describes the final version of the OS", would be like having an article about US Presidents and just give information about George Bush (there were presidents before, but of no significance).

I agree with Paul, that RSTS-11 and RSTS/E should be one (1) article with a better history line...and maybe a nice page design like Megan's RT-11...and how about we put Spike up in the corner? Paul...can you think of any special RSTS contributor's that could be mentioned (YES, include yourself)? Sorry that I opened a can of worms, but I didn't know that there were STILL RSTS guru's out there.

Additional points of history that could be mentioned:

  1. Sysgen with LIGHTS (Ok, so I like the swirly display)
  2. Longer passwords not stored in RADIX-50 (after V9.x I believe)
  3. Creating [0,*] accounts (again after V9.x I believe)
  4. All the fancy set account/whatever stuff in V9 and later (no more just user/superuser)
  5. Reference to Y2k issues.
  6. Anything cool and fancy in the 10.x line that happened after most of us had moved on.

and so on...and so on...

Bbump 19:07, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

If you went from V4 to V8 in one step it's no surprise you'd find it a big one. There's a nice "History of RSTS" writeup, a humorous one that switches seamlessly from reality to science fiction. It's online, I'll have to look for it. (It was done as part of, I think, the 20th anniversary of RSTS or of the PDP-11.)
Re contributors: I don't think so -- it's a typical team effort and I don't think there was any single personality so different from the rest to be "notable" for separate mention.
So far I hear "yes". I'll do some digging for data. Paul Koning 15:43, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
Yes, it was a huge jump for us, and I didn't start back-tracking into previous versions until years later. And it could be that the major hurdle between RSTS-11 and RSTS/E really was nothing more than the memory management code (I really don't know). I think the page your refer to is this one http://www.silverware.co.uk/rsts_80th_birthday.htm I remember it, and have reviewed it often.
Your probably right about the contributors (too many to mention). Mike was always helpful whenever I talked to him, PKH as well. Then the flood of authors writing in Rsts-Pro. Ah well.
Yes, please dig up whatever you can. I'm glad to help as well (novice wikipedian that I am). I'm also sure Christine will let us use her version of Spike (unless anyone else has a better one?).
Thanks Paul Bbump 22:56, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

I think the merge is a good idea also. (though my name is anonymous here, you can find my initials in common.mac from v7.0 on -- SJK) Vantelimus 18:13, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] RSTS Merged, Items Needed

  1. Commercial and Non-commercial information on sites that used RSTS. I was hoping that someone with more knowledge of the Citibank systems could help provide some insight in the HISTORY section. Banks, insurance, universities etc.
  2. Development history from 1990-1992. Anyone?
  3. Run-Time Section (too much?/not enough?), someone want to compose a nice TECO example?
  4. Trivia Section is currently unfinished (but you can see where I was heading with it).
  5. Current status of Mentec-inc (still selling PDP-11 software)? Their website is still down, phone disconnected and no replies to emails.

Bbump (talk) 04:42, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

Wow, you sure did a lot of work on this. It looks very good. Opportunities for cleanup, of course, but this really moves things ahead. Paul Koning (talk) 17:03, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
Thanks Paul. I'm glad you cleaned up the RSX memory section. I debated about that one but tried to leave as much content as possible (not wanting to step on anyones toes). Bbump (talk) 14:45, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] The Great KWord Debate

I am a little confused by the information in Peter's article concerning the 1975 release of RSTS/E Version 6A-02. It's clear the 11/70 will address 4MB of memory (or more appropriately 2MW). My confusion stems from his comment that "maximum memory on the 11/70 was now 2M bytes." This would lead me to believe that there was an "as yet" unresolved problem with the memory management code (ability to address 21 of 22bits), that Peter actually meant 2M words instead of 2M bytes, or that somewhere along the road (editing), communication was lost. Without having access to any RSTS/E version prior to V7.0 (that I can get working), I can not test this information to resolve this adequately (thus, it remains a debate). I am unsure if the 6A-02 Version section should be posted as 21 bit instead of 22 bit (sorry, there never was a 21 bit PDP-11). Left as 22 bit, obviously someone will come along and correct our 2MB statement. If Peter's article is wrong and 6A-02 (on an 11/70) will actually run 4MB of memory, then the 1978 section becomes redundant (please edit accordingly). Bbump (talk) 14:45, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't have sources that would help, either. I believe someone around here does... Anyway, it would be quite unusual for an article about RSTS, or about any PDP-11 software for that matter, to quote memory sizes in (mega)bytes. The universal convention for PDP-11 software was to refer to (16 bit) words.
It's certainly possible that older versions had some limitation around 22-bit addressing, perhaps due to abuse of signed arithmetic -- but RSTS in general did a good job on getting that issue right.
Paul Koning (talk) 14:58, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hobbyist license status unknown

Because it might be misleading, the text talking about Mentec issuing a no cost hobbyist license should probably be removed because it is still being actively pursued in an official fashion. It was actually DEC who granted this to Bob Supnik and only for use on emulation products, not on a general scale like the article would suggest. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.107.133.124 (talk) 19:33, 17 March 2008 (UTC)