4.3+patches, 4.3-Tahoe, 4.3-Reno, 4.4???

[Rex Sanders]

I manage a VAX 750 + 4.3 BSD system (please, hold the laughter).
Because of the numerous well-known security holes, I must upgrade.
The (low-cost) choices seem to be:

1 - Add the 80+ patches published by Berkeley.
    I've tried installing about half these patches. Some have bugs, some come
    with lines like "install patch, re-compile every program on system."  Ugh.
    This project looks like a multi-month black hole.

2 - Install 4.3 Tahoe.
    Is Tahoe hard to get running on a VAX?
    How many patches are needed to get the Tahoe release up to latest revs?

3 - Install 4.3 Reno
    Explicitly stated in the announcement: "not a production system".  We
    are a production shop supporting dozens of users.

4 - Wait for 4.4 BSD
    How long till 4.4 is released?  Will it suffer the dreaded "even-numbered
    release syndrome" (i.e. lots of great features, with bugs to match)?
    Will it support a dinosaur like the VAX 750?

Any words of advice, wisdom, speculation, actual experience (!!!), are welcome.
Any alternatives with a real dollar cost over $2,000 are not useful (e.g. call
Mt Xinu, buy a Sun).

-- Rex Sanders, US Geological Survey
   rex at pmgvax.wr.usgs.gov -OR- rex at isdmnl.usgs.gov