Vaxer? I hardly even...

If you're a Vaxer then you probably know why this is here. This site, machine, and the list that runs on it are part of what continue to tie us together. The VAX culture, or lack thereof, started at University of Florida but has continued even after most of its members managed to get out of the place. Many of the current VAXers never even went to UF. Inexplicably we've managed to suck in few new members.

Ben Ostrowsky explained it as follows: (posted with his permission)

Let's see, where do I begin? VAX is a brand of mainframe [1] made by Digital back in the early eighties. At UF, there were several VAX computers hooked up together into a common cluster for Internet access. A community of geeks developed. We call ourselves VAXers. Most of my married friends met each other on VAX, or at least within the vaxing circle. Our own personalized mythology includes lots of in-jokes, the most tired and reliable of which is "VAXer? I hardly know her!" But for some reason, one of our number accused another of being a HEARTLESS BASTARD!!!!, which then turned into a joke. I've heard people say "It's all Heather's fault" or "You're THAT Larry?!" or "It's because Russ is Jewish" and never really known how the phrase got started.

The Vaxers still hang out together on a mailing list that generates 0-50 messages a day. We've even found new vaxers who don't know what a VAX is, but still fit in perfectly with our style of arguing, dreaming, flirting, soapboxing, and confiding in the list. It's something like emotional polygamy, and we like it. ;)

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                                              --root