DECnet/DOS, was Re: [HECnet] DECnet and Windows NT?

[Jordi Guillaumes i Pons]

El 21/12/2012, a les 4:42, Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> va escriure:

While you're at it, DECnet/DOS was really nice for the time.   I
believe (but am not certain, can anyone clarify?) that it is what grew
into Pathworks.

We used it extensively in our network back at the early 90's. IIRC the name evolution was DECnet/DOS => PCSA => PATHWORKS. The main problem with the DOS version was it ate a lot of "real" memory (about 300KB if my memory does not betray me). That left a very small space for applications...

On the nice side, it came with an EDT compatible editor (SEDT... I miss it :)) and a XServer for DOS which worked nicely with DECWindows. That was the reason the puck mouse interface was in the LAN card.

We had a DEC-centric office system back in those days. ALL-IN-1 running in the VAXen and WPS-DOS running in the peecees for word processing (BTW, does anyone have a WPS-DOS disk set arount? ;)). 20/20 for spreadsheet at both sides. And TEAMDATA to allow the end users to browse the databases.   We bought 3300s for the remote offices. 3 of them I think. We linked those to our main site using 1200bps point-to-point lines with DECRouters at each side (1 port models at the remote end, a 4 port one at our central office). One of those 3300s ended at my home, and is now called BITXO2 :).

DEC made an 8-bit ISA Ethernet card, that also (inexplicably) had a
port on it for one of the DEC "puck" mice.

Yes, the DEPCA! 



Jordi Guillaumes i Pons
jg at jordi.guillaumes.name
HECnet: BITXOV::JGUILLAUMES