View Source: VAX - Waikato Linux Users Group

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[Acronym] for __V__irtual __A__ddress E__x__tension, the most successful minicomputer in history (possibly excepting its immediate predecessor, the [PDP11]). It was released in 1978 and was only [retired|http://h18002.www1.hp.com/alphaserver/vax/] recently, in 2000, in favour of the [Alpha]Server series now sold by [HP].

The [VAX] was the [Hacker]'s favourite machine until the advance of the microcomputer (the [IBM] [PC]) in about 1986. It is especially noted for its large, [Assembler]-programmer-friendly instruction set – an asset that became a liability after the [RISC] revolution. [VAX] is also a British [brand of vacuum cleaner | http://www.vax.co.uk/] whose advertising slogan, "Nothing sucks like a VAX!" became a battle-cry of [RISC] partisans. It is even sometimes claimed that [DEC] entered a licencing deal that allowed them to market [VAX] computers in the UK in return for not challenging the vacuum cleaner trademark in the US.

[Linux has been ported to the VAX | http://linux-vax.sourceforge.net/], and [NetBSD] runs on it as well, but if you're using a [VAX] you're probably maintaining a [Legacy] system running [VMS].

! See also

* [A timeline of the architecture | http://h18002.www1.hp.com/alphaserver/vax/timeline/]
* Cool things to do with a [VAX]: [turn it into a bar | http://toyvax.glendale.ca.us/~vance/vaxbar.html]

7 pages link to VAX:

Last edited on Saturday, May 6, 2006 6:54:15 pm by LawrenceDoliveiro

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