[HECnet] RSX or RSTS

? So, the question is, what OS should I put on it?? RSX or RSTS?? It has to be something that can make good use of the hardware. ? No Unix, please ? I?ve already got a nice 11/83 with 2.11bsd on it.

? I've worked on RSTS and RSX both. ? WIth RSTS, DEC held you at arm's length - no real access to internals. If you like what you get, you're OK. If you want to extend the systems, learn about internals, add support for strange devices - you're out of luck. It's a pretty "vanilla" sort of environment. ? WIth RSX, the internals are documented, there's a dozen ways to access them, and you are pracatically invited to roll up your sleeves and get to work on the innards. Strange devices (hardware and "software" devices both) are welcome. Sources to the Executive come with every system. Many examples are in MACRO. ? At my RSTS site, it was a good choice (it was used for Accounting there, so stability and ease of use was important). My two RSX sites, one had a lot of weird devices and needed plenty of extensions written to provide needed support, and the other was an engineering site, lots of exotic requirements, so RSX was the winner at both of those places. ?? And, a purely subjective opinion - RSX is more fun.