DEC Legacy, 17-18th April, Windermere, UK

After the Event!

My heartfelt thanks go out to all the presenters, demonstrators and attendees of the DEC Legacy Event who made the weekend so enjoyable.

It would be difficult to imagine another situation where so much DEC equipment could be found in the same room.

It's also good to know that between us we've raised £148 for the National Museum of Computing!

There are some photos of the event kindly provided by Trevor Howard Smith, Rob Jarratt and Peter Jackson in this gallery.

Some screenshots of the Light Cycles and Dodgems games ressurrected/played at the event are captured in this gallery.

I've also uploaded a couple of videos to youtube, you can find them here.

See Kevin Murrells thoughts on DEC Legacy on the Computer Weekly website.

Special thanks to our remote presenters: Steve Hoffman provided us with a nostalgic tour of the DEC Mill (and has provided some valuable links to resources of interest), Johnny Billquist for talking about his fantastic technology behind HECnet and Colin Butcher for his information on High Availability OpenVMS systems, OpenVMS 8.4 features and his DEC Technical Journal archive.

Also, a huge thanks to Bob Wallace of Nicepond for all his help in setting up and providing an internet connection over the weekend.

Suffice to say that I've not been put off by the experience and hope to see many of you (and some new faces) back here again next year!

The purpose of the event is to bring together people with an interest in the company Digital Equipment Corporation and their legacy of hardware, software and ethos. There will be both vintage DEC computer hardware and software and more recent HP hardware and software being demonstrated at the event.

The schedule of events consists of a mix of the following:

• Walkabout sessions giving the opportunity to talk to owners of DEC hardware and to 'have a play'
• Demonstrations of equipment or software by their owners (languages, applications, games etc)
• Presentations on related topics of interest
• A light hearted programming competition
• The opportunity to trade hardware, software, relevant items
• A full media library will be available for OpenVMS (VAX, Alpha & Itanium), OSF/Digital Unix/tru64 and Ultrix for hobbyists who would like to install/upgrade their operating systems.

We have some very exciting speakers and demonstrators lined up: please see the Presentations page for more information!

This is an opportunity to mix with people with similar interests, experience hardware and software which you may have worked with in the past or have an interest in and participate in interesting demonstrations and presentations. You will also be able to spend some time in what is arguably one of England's finest landscapes. There will be a short walk on Sunday for participants to stretch their legs and see some of the wonderful scenery on offer in this part of the UK.

Background on DEC:

DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION was an American Computer Manufacturer originally formed in 1957 by Ken Olson and Harlan Anderson and existed until 1998 when it was aquired by Compaq. The company manufactured a huge range of hardware and software over the course of its history, including:

• PDP Minicomputers
• VAX Minicomputers
• Alpha Minicomputers
• Early Personal Computers (DEC Professional, DECmate, Rainbow 100)
• VT Terminals
• Printers
• Networking Hardware
• Storage Hardware
• Intel Based Personal Computers & Laptops

Operating Systems that DEC Hardware supports includes:

• VAX/VMS, OpenVMS
• Digital Unix, OSF/1, tru64
• Ultrix
• RSX-11
• RT-11
• RSTS/E
• TOPS-10, TOPS-20
• CP/M
• Linux
• OpenBSD
• NetBSD
• DOS
• Windows

The DEC Legacy continues in the products that HP now provides in form of the OpenVMS Operating System and the Itanium based hardware on which it runs. The recently shipped Itanium II 'Tukwila' processor has been heavily influenced by the design of the late Alpha EV-8 processor and indeed has been developed by many of the ex-DEC employees who originally worked on the Alpha processor line.

The two day event will take place at the Marchesi Centre in Windermere, The Lake District.

SORRY BUT THE EVENT IS NOW  SOLD OUT

Internet connection kindly provided by the lovely people at Nice Pond.