@futzle @mike They're for two different kinds of connectors. RS-232 originally used a 25-pin DB25 connector, but many pins weren't used by most equipment, so by the 19990s, things had mostly settled on a simpler 9-pin DB9 connector.

It's "mini" relative to other DB25 adapters, not to any DB9 things -- which the other is.

The early null modem adapaters / gender changers / etc were all pretty large.

@ieure @futzle @mike aaarggggh.. Flashbacks and shakes. Need a content warning on RS232 lest all old IT people start screaming and hiding under desks or looking for their tangled knot of "standard" cable to connect exactly _that_ device to _this_ server

@ajft @ieure @futzle I'm 100% sure the "mini" explanation is correct, because yeah it's one of the smallest of its type for sure, but I wasn't wearing my glasses last night and it turns out the smaller one is a DE-15, for VGA. They probably weren't intended to be compared to each other like I did.

This is all from a pile of old Sun gear, for the record.