[Info-vax] Whither VMS?

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In article <HrRsm.2667$Jd7.2363 at nwrddc02.gnilink.net>, xxx <xxx at yyy.zzz> writes:
>Bob Eager wrote:
>> On Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:54:14 -0500, Bob Koehler wrote:
>> 
>>> In article <7hhqleF2u15qvU2 at mid.individual.net>, billg999 at cs.uofs.edu
>>> (Bill Gunshannon) writes:
>>>> So then, you agree with me that DCL, per se, is not really a part of
>>>> the OS as it functions just fine without it.
>>>    Nope.  I've never seen a VMS system running without DCL.  Even when
>>>    we used VMS in a manner similar to an embedded system it did have an
>>>    OPA0, and we used DCL heavily.
>> 
>> I've seen a VMS system that didn't even have a console.
>> 
>> It was called an LPS-40.
>
>DCL is the default CLI, and plays a major role in the customary behavior 
>of VMS that we all know, but VMS can be run with other CLIs with 
>different behaviors.
>
>It was pointed out before that DCL runs in its own private special mode 
>(Supervisor) that allows it to play its unique and special role but 
>other CLIs can get the job done too.  It is not very easy to discover 
>HOW to write a CLI for VMS, but as was mentioned that is another 
>story...  As such DCL is "more equal" than other CLIs, but the fact is 
>VMS can run under other CLIs too.
>
>   $HELP LOGIN /CLI:
>
>   LOGIN
>
>     /CLI
>
>         /CLI=command-language-interpreter
>
>      Specifies the name of an alternate command language interpreter
>      (CLI) to override the default CLI listed in the UAF. The CLI
>      you specify must be located in SYS$SYSTEM and have the file type
>      .EXE.
>
>      If you do not specify a command interpreter by using the /CLI
>      qualifier and you do not have a default CLI listed in the UAF,
>      the system supplies the qualifier /CLI=DCL by default.
>
>BTW besides the alternate CLIs that have been mentioned, does anyone 
>recall /CLI=MCR back in the early days of VMS?  In fact if you enter MCR 
>as a bare command in DCL today it still knows that it should look for 
>RSX.EXE.  I think the RSX MCR alternate CLI support (and the supporting 
>RSX programs it used) were built into the base VMS distribution in the 
>early days and then it was pushed out to a layered product later on 
>(Around the time the "/11" stopped being on the end of CPU model numbers 
>when they went from hardware support to software support for the PDP-11 
>mode I thin)).  I don't know if the yayered product would still work on 
>the current versions of VMS.  I do know I kept it on my systems for a 
>long time so I could use certain features in the supporting RSX programs 
>that did not have equivalents in VMS.

Yeap and I still use MCR as a shortcut to typing $ RUN SYS$SYSTEM:some.EXE

$ MCR SYSGEN
$ MCR SYSMAN
$ MCR AUTHORIZE

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