I read an article about the benefits of a VLB motherboard. It said that a 
true VLB board supports bus mastering, otherwise it is just as good as an ISA
motherboard.

Doesn't all VLB motherboard support bus mastering? I just bought a 486-33 VLB
and the tech manual does not explicitly state the words "local bus mastering"
but it said it "supports bus master and slave modes". Are these terms
synonymous?

Thanks.