11 Jun
2009
11 Jun
'09
11:53 a.m.
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Dave McGuire wrote:
On Jun 10, 2009, at 11:38 AM, Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
This attitude is common even here, amongst people who presumably
should know better. Just because VMS was around thirty years ago,
that means it's a thirty-year-old OS. "Wow, I can't believe we're
still using cars. They're so old! Since there were cars in 1908,
that means ALL cars are from 1908!"
The other amusing thing about which people here (at least) should
know better is the visibility factor. VMS, OS/400, MVS, and VM are
*everywhere*...but people think they're somehow "dead" because the
only thing they see in for sale in WalMart is PCs running Windows.
Do these people really believe PCs running Windows process their
bank transactions, maintain hospital databases, or run railroads?
-Dave
I know VMS is not dead; if I wanted to get a "best of both worlds"
experience (modern and ancient), and it not be UNIX on the software
side, I'd get an Itanium box running OpenVMS.
I referred to things like TOPS-20, ITS, etc., which, in terms of
support and development, are dead.
I know that OS/400 and MVS are not dead, either; one (or the other) is
being used by my local school district (and has for years) as the OS
for the "central glue" that holds their entire operation together. If
you are wondering how I know this:
TN3270 host 'rossac.sdhc.k12.fl.us' port 23
Try it. If you get prompted with a ASCII-art psudeographical login
screen, with a large, hippyish "HCPS" ASCII-logo, that's it.
It might
seem odd, but I don't know how to use 'ed'. I kinda know
'ex'
due to the fact 'vi' is 'ex' turned from a line editor to a screen
editor. Most of what I know about computers from way back is mostly
limited to UNIX (and that's only because UNIX didn't die like the
other OSes.)
I hate statements like this. Died like what OSes? MVS? VM? VSE?
There are a bunch of OSes from back then which are still around. I hate statements like this. Died like what OSes?
MVS? VM? VSE?
There are a bunch of OSes from back then which are still around.
I hate statements like this. It gives the feeling, without any actual
implication (for you semantics nazis out there), that since a few good
OSes survived (VMS, UNIX, MVS, etc.), the rest came along. CP/M? Dead.
TOPS-20? Dead. TENEX? Dead. ITS? Dead.
No, I am not saying that these four are "inferior" in that statement.
My point is that no significant support and development happens for
these OSes. Therefore, they are "dead".
Of those four there, the only one I've actually used is TOPS-20.
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