If you want the classic experience of working with an IBM mainframe or another classic computer like a DEC VAX, you have a few choices. You could spend a lot of money trying to find one, transport it, and refurbish it. But, of course, most of us will settle for an emulator. While there are great emulators out there, most of the time you aren’t interested in running just the bare machine — you want the operating systems, the compilers, and the other software that made these machines so interesting. Running your three lines of machine code isn’t as much fun as playing hunt the wumpus or compiling some Fortran IV code. Unfortunately, finding copies of all this old software can be daunting. But thanks to the efforts of [Rattydave], you can do it with no problems at all. The secret? Pre-built docker images that have everything you need in one place.
In addition to IBM’s MVS, VM370, and TSS, you can also run Multics — the predecessor to Unix — on a collection of computers from DEC, HP, and DG, and even a Cray 1 supercomputer. There are good instructions, although some of the machines do take a little work. For example, the TSS image notes:
This is not a ready to ru ..
Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
