PDP-11 arch & OS ownership, was Re: [HECnet] NT 4 on AlphaServer es40

On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 10:12 PM, Brett Bump <bbump at rsts.org> wrote: On Mon, 11 Feb 2013, Dave McGuire wrote: On 02/11/2013 08:30 PM, Johnny Billquist wrote: What happened to Mentec and the PDP-11 support after DEC made the silly decision to spin the division off? And yes you should. The PDP-10 was an interesting system and one lived for a long time in the basement of an MIT building during the middle 90s. Mentec continued on for about 10 years, and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. However, during those 10 years (take or give a few), first DEC, then Compaq then HP continued to support and sell PDP-11 software, even though Mentec was the guys owning and developing. When Mentec Inc. did disappear, the software bits were bought out by another company. And that is where it sits today. If we could get HP to actually release the IP for this software, then maybe something hobbyist-like could happen, but as it sits right now, HP control bits and pieces, making it a very complex situation. I'm not sure if you can still contact HP and get a new license for RSX, but it might be. But getting anyone to legally release the stuff seems difficult. :-( It was a UK firm (Calyx). Peter Dick was going to see if he could find a contact there to untangle some of the mess. At least that was in our last discussions on the matter (and that was April 15, 2009). No word since then. Uh... No... The Software was bought from what was left of Mentec by a company named xx2247 ltd. Located in Colorado. Ownership passed from Mentec to Calyx before XX2247. -Dave Oh reaaaaaally now! Well I still have my key (if not an 11 to go with it) but it appears that I have been out of the loop for a while. But if it is in Colorado, then closer to me, and easier than swimming across the pond. Hmm... Domain ID:D98296498-LROR Domain Name:XX2247.ORG Created On:27-Jun-2003 20:58:47 UTC Last Updated On:01-Dec-2009 22:46:56 UTC Expiration Date:27-Jun-2013 20:58:47 UTC Sponsoring Registrar:Wild West Domains, LLC (R120-LROR) Status:CLIENT DELETE PROHIBITED Status:CLIENT RENEW PROHIBITED Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED Status:CLIENT UPDATE PROHIBITED Registrant ID:CR30615963 Registrant Name:John Wilson Registrant Organization:XX2247 Ah, ha ha ha ha! Ok, John fess up. What is the real scoop? ;-) Brett Hello! Oh my aching field density equalizers! If he's the name behind it then we've got a big bear by his paws here. And Dave this is really not your fault. ----- Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8 at gmail.com "This signature fought the Time Wars, time and again."