[Info-vax] [OT] was : Abbreviations, was: Re: Desperately Seeking OpenVMS ecosystem : we need our AAOIS

["Gérard Calliet (pia-sofer)"]

Le 09/12/2013 03:32, VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG a écrit :
> In article <52a512e0$0$12723$c3e8da3$69010069 at news.astraweb.com>, JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot at vaxination.ca> writes:
>> 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".
>
> And you just proved the power point.  Used here in comp.os.vms, those true
> acronyms have meaning.  Apparently, for one c.o.ver, that reference to PPT
> was lost.  Like I stated, when I first saw PPT used many moons ago, I had
> no idea what it meant either.  I had attended many too many presentations
> that had employed PowerPuke but I never *once* heard it called PPT.  Also,
> I don't use WEENDOZE; Richard does.  I can not speak to why he didn't know
> what PPT referred to but I can offer that it is NOT that universally known
> as serveral others here have argued.
>
> I'd asked my wife (pharmacological research chemist), who has presented her
> research using PowerPuke (pool girl) for both internal research colleagues
> and external pharmaceutical conferences, if anybody had ever asked her for
> the "PPT" files.  Guess what her answer was.  I could believe that Richard
> didn't know to what PPT was referring, why can't anybody else?
>
In a time or about thousands of companies around the world think about 
loss of million dollards each, the "community" who can address the 
situation spends a month about usage of an acronym.

You deserve the creation of a new award : AAOIS (Absurdity Award for Old 
IT Scholars).

I think we have to do an archive of this thread, because in a decade or 
two, in computers history departments it would have a furious success of 
hilarity.