Ken Olsen, co-founder of Digital Equipment Corp., died at 84

Post by arethuza » Tue, Feb 08, 2011, 9:44 AM UTC

dfghjkfgh wrote: post #16

ctkrohn wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah yes, forgot about the Alpha port of NT. It's a little-known fact that Windows NT ran on non-Intel architectures: besides the Alpha version, there were MIPS and PowerPC ports.

Due to some sort of internal Dec sales war you could buy the same hardware running VMS($$$$),Ultrix($$$),or NT($) - we bought NT and wiped the machines then installed Linux. They gave you Sparc ultra performance for 1/2 the price.

Post by rbanffy » Tue, Feb 08, 2011, 12:46 PM UTC

flashgordon wrote: post #5

hsmyers wrote: post #2

Given the age survey posted a little while ago, most HN members have no particular reason to note this. But for me, one by one the pioneers that pulled me into the world of computers are dying--- I will miss them.

Actually its funny you mention that. I have a feeling given the relative youth of the field of CS (and CE), even those of us who are relative newbies like myself (by which I mean when and under what circumstances I got into the field) still appreciate the work of such pioneers, even though it is as a result of reading up about them rather than actually working directly with them (or their contributions). Another name…

Post by rbanffy » Tue, Feb 08, 2011, 12:51 PM UTC

levigross wrote: post #9

It's a shame that every time I mention DEC to anyone, very few of them know what I am talking about... I enjoyed using VAX/VMS and admire DEC's contributions to modern ComSci. You will be missed!