[Info-vax] [OT] Abbreviations, was: Re: Desperately Seeking OpenVMS ecosystem

[JF Mezei]

On 13-12-08 18:37, VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote:

> VMS: it's always been VMS, despite the marketing Open prefix, not Virtual
> Memory System.  In speaking about the OS, even in non-VMS forums, it's VMS.

Bear in mind that for most aged 35 and younger, they've never heard of
VMS as an operating system and assume it is just one of those unknown
acronyms for some obscur product. (such as Vehicle Management System,
Voluntary Milking System)

In the UK, they would associate "VAX" with something that sucks dust. (I
did see a VAX vacuum cleaner in Australia in the 1990s BTW).

Again, the younger generation have never heard of VAX.


> RMS: Very few here say Record Management Services.  In conversation, it's
> RMS.

To be devil's advocate here, RMS can refer to the more generic software
layer for any file with record attributes, or it can also refer to
specific indexed or relative files that have more complex struyctures
and far mroe software involved in accessing/writing records.

So when discussing "RMS" in a VMS context, one still has to specify
whether you are refering to indexed files or just generic files.

> DCL: there are books, manuals and forums devoted to DCL.

When was the last time a book or manual was written about DCL ?

Again, in the context of c.o.v. DCL is pretty self explanatory. But talk
to IT or networking nerds who are younger and they have no clue. You
have to explain thyat DCL was the equivalent of bash for an older
operating system called VMS which was popular at the time they were
wearing diapers.

And while I am still more comfortable with DCL than with bash, the
general consensus is that bash is far more powerful than DCL. What I
like about DCL is that it is simple and self explanatory.

> AST: I issued a QIO with an AST to perform "X" when the IO was complete.

You did ? Congratulations !

When I was at University, there was this guy whom we joked no longer
spoke english, he spoke Unix (he became THE unix guru in Montreal).

And in your sentence above, you did not speak english, you spoke VMS,
with not only acronyms specific to VMS, but also concepts that are not
widely used elsewhere. (does Unix even have the equivalent of an AST ?)

While those are perfectly appropriate to comp.os.vms , they would not be
in the context of another operating system without an explanation of
what they do.

The question becomes whether "ppt" transcends the presentation community
and understood by anyone, or whether the "PowerPoint" word should be
used outside of a niche group who focus on presentations. (and such
group these days are likely not focused on Redmon products)


> I seldom hear or read anybody referring to Asynchonous System Traps when
> AST is significantly less syllables and vocal chord vibrations.

The problem is that nobody outside of comp.os.vms talks about ASTs or
their longer name. So the concept is obscure to almost all in the IN
industry these days.

> I've never hear anybody say, "we had to suffer yet another content vacuous
> PPT presentation." 

Fair point. However, one could argue that "ppt" is a bit like OpenVMS:
it is written differently than it is processed/pronounced:  You read
"ppt" as "Powerpoint", and you read "OpenVMS" as "VMS".