This is my last email on this subject. Promise. I suggest using the Plan 9 compilers and start with the code for the 32V system. That's the code that first ran on the VAX. It'll be easier to move than the PDP version. It's just Seventh Edition moved to the VAX. I'm using Plan 9 to type this. It's the os I have used as my primary os for the last 10 years. I wrote the Cisco PIX Firewall and the LocalDirector using it. I first used Plan 9 15 years ago at Bell Labs. In a very real sense, it is the true decendent of a very noble line of timesharing systems, going all the way back to MIT's CTSS. You should try Plan 9 for free by downloading it from Bell Labs. It's all open source. Expect to learn a lot. It's UNIX like a Ford Mustang is a T-Model. Lot of the ideas of V7-10 are further developed in Plan 9. It's certainly the os perfered by a good number of UNIX purests. It was the result of a number of poeple, including Ken Thompson, who thought that a fresh code start would allow them to better exploit new technology like networking, hetergenious processors, and symmetrical multiple processors. http://plan9.bell-labs.com I really hope James does the port. I wish I had the time to do it myself. A native V7 port would be really useful in some situations, but more importantly it would help educate new generations of programmers. It would demonstrate the true power and synergy of the software tools approach that UNIX blessed us with. It doesn't need shared libraries, threads, gui's or even vi. The Seventh Edition is amazing technology in a form that can be understood, internalized, and the resulting education used to produce much better modern software. There should be at least a version in it's native form. There's just something special about running it native. Brantley Coile