# VCFMW 19

I had so much fun at this event over this weekend! I got to meet all kinds of amazing computers and people, and even learned more about what kinds of old computers I like.

I like big iron, CLIs, UNIX, old computers going online, and actually probably especially Sun stuff if me thinking I was dreaming at IndyClassic upon seeing a Sun Ultra 5 in the free pile didn't already give it away. Atari people are pretty damn cool too, and I informed the Atari BBS sorts of IndyClassic, which is closer for at least one of them. :-)

I told the Atari people about my Atari 2600 story, as I got mine for 75 USD at a different auction, and the entire room applauded (and I have witnesses!) and the auctioneer told me I got a damn good deal. Good thing too as I was totally prepared to overpay.

I bought a Sun Netra T1 from Sellam Ismali, who is the founder of the Vintage Computer Federation. I can say that without a doubt, he has done very good work. The big thing is that he had a great deal on a rackmount server period. I actually had a fun idea to make a pubnix on an old Unix machine for some time, and this Netra was perfect due to it being a 1U unit, meaning I could colocate it rather cheaply. It also has a SPARC processor, a bespoke RISC processor of any kind being something I desired (and had on my Ultra 5 but it isn't rackmount and needs some fixing and I'll probably do some Solaris futzing with that.)

I also met jns, an SDF user, at this event. His BBS is one of the genuinely coolest things I've seen, particularly how its UI is quite flexible. We even exchanged fediverse handles... and when I looked we were already mutuals. Always a good thing to discover!

I also saw jasmaz's TI-99/4A exhibit. I have a TI-99/4A, so it definitely catches my fancy. I even told the story of how I got mine at an auction for less than 50 USD for sure.

I also noticed the Ball Pit. I remember watching the DashCon disaster from Tumblr, so naturally I had to make jokes about it on Mastodon. Especially after finding out I was walking the halls it took place in. I'd say fedi was lucky I refrained from asking for 420 novemtillion dollars or else VCFMW will get shut down. As funny as I'd personally find it, I feel making this joke would be in bad taste and might get me kicked out. It certainly was an exercise in restraint!

A protogen (probably the individual who came up with the idea) started loudly infodumping about DashCon to Steve from Mac84. I overheard it and, being a normal leopard, I joined in! The protogen started cleaning it up and I helped near the end because, well, I was one of the individuals who recognized it.

If you were at the Mac Clone panel, I'm the one who remembered the Pippin. :-P

I got doubly rewarded for that reminder, as not only did I get a free mousepad, I also got a Pippin Kickstart disk, possibly from Keith Kaisershot himself!

=> https://blitter.net/pippinkickstart I hyperfixated on the Pippin for enough time to have followed Keith Kaisershot's work on the matter, so it's amazing I got an official disk.

Also, it seems that I know what CP/M looks like. :-P

I wasn't even the luckiest person at the event, and by any means I am one of the luckier people in this hobby. I heard some teenager (presumably based on his build and voice) talk about his PDP-11. Geez, I wish I had a PDP-11!

I also one-upped an Arch user with my Alpine and NetBSD usage. I use Alpine and NetBSD btw and all that. I actually am typing this up from my Alpine laptop onto a pubnix running NetBSD and all. :-P

(Arch users are wonderful though and I totally get the appeal of Arch, Gentoo, etc. I'm just more used to Alpine and find it generally working the best. I also have an M1 Mac that runs Fedora Asahi Linux, certainly my most Normal computer.)

Anyways, fun event, can't wait for next year's IndyClassic and for VCFMW20!