[Info-vax] HP wins Oracle Itanium case

[David Froble]

Richard B. Gilbert wrote:
> On 8/21/2012 9:25 AM, ChrisQ wrote:
>> On 08/20/12 21:17, David Froble wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Address the merits of Unix ..
>>
>> One of the great strengths of unix is that it is a system designed 
>> from the
>> start for programmers to be productive. The terse command and utility
>> set may
>> be a steep learning curve, but save so much time when you are familiar 
>> with
>> them. The overall philosophy of a single tool to do one job, with the
>> ability
>> to trivially pipe the output from one command to another could not be
>> simpler
>> in concept, but has real power to to do serious work.
>>
>> Now compare that with vms, which has limited functionality as shipped, a
>> laboured command language,
> 
> "Laboured????
> 
> If you bought VMS in the United States, or Great Britain,
> the command language was English.  In the U.S. we don't see VMS
> using the British but I assume that the British dialect can be 
> accommodated.
> 
> If you want to copy something, COPY is your command.  Want to  print 
> something, just say PRINT. If you don't specify the file to be printed
> you will be asked for it!
> 
> If your native language is not English, VMS can accommodate you! Chinese 
> characters are a bit more difficult but possible.
> 
>> very expensive software dev tools and
>> languages and
>> there's really no argument as to which is the better for software
>> development.
>> VMS is a system designed for mission critical work, with reliability
>> stressed
>> over wide functionality and ease of use.
> 
> I certainly do not find VMS "difficult"!  OTOH, I do find Unix 
> difficult.  Terse and cryptic does nothing but annoy me!
>>
> Had I been forced to use an ASR-33 Teletype to talk to a VMS system,
> I would hate it.
> 
> 
> 

I believe only the first 4 characters of a DCL verb are considered by the 
system, so you could limit your typing.  But completing the words gives meaning 
and understanding to DCL.

What I have a hard time understanding is soemthing like "ls".  Since I don't use 
Unix I don't know whether "list" might also work.  Don't get out much, ya know ..