[Info-vax] Real Usenet clients, was: Re: backups and compaction or nocompaction might be better

[Phillip Helbig---undress to reply]

> A tool that's sufficiently cogniscent can certainly select the subset, 
> though not all will.  But you're not having trouble with those subset 
> documents. You'lre having trouble with documents that are using UTF-8.  

Right.  That is actually OK.  But since 7-bit ASCII is an official 
subset/representation of UTF-8, I don't see the point in sending 
something which is only 7-bit ASCII anyway in some more complex format.

> > What are the realistic options?  Obviously, coming from VMS I shouldn't
> > go for another niche product, so it's basically Windows, Linux or Apple.
> > Windows means that I have to be constantly up-to-date on anti-virus
> > software.  Sorry, a system which can be infected within seconds if
> > exposed to the internet is obviously so poorly designed from the ground
> > up that I don't want to waste time with that.  Gnu/Linux?  RMS says that
> > I commit crimes against humanity, so I will be avoiding his cronies as
> > much as possible.  Apple?  I actually like the concept---similar to DEC,
> > actually, with hardware, software and applications all from one
> > place---but if I go that route I would like to go all the way.  However,
> > Apple have apparently been taken under the control of the Daughters of
> > the American Revolution, not only not allowing some apps which are
> > capable of displaying nudity or whatever, but bowldlerizing books and
> > music.  No, not my cup of tea.  What is left?
> 
> You've been listening to sales far too much, and haven't been looking 
> around and haven't been trying other stuff.  Scrape the FUD off the 
> discussion, and have a serious look around.

Where's the FUD?  Viruses are a real problem on Windows.  Gnu philosophy 
is all over the web.  And I don't want to have anything other than the 
intended versions of books or music, so Apple isn't an option.  (No, I 
don't want to get into jailbreaking.)  And anyone who objects to an app 
just because it can POTENTIALLY display nudity is obviously hung up.

> Remember too that VMS isn't immune to malware.  For instance, the most 
> recent vulnerable Java JVM is still enabled on VMS, while it's locked 
> out on OS X pending an update from Oracle.  (Are folks beyond 
> spearphishers likely to target VMS here?  No.)  At worst, the JVM will 
> probably tip over, if the browser has the plug-in enabled.  But the JVM 
> is vulnerable.  Is that the only attack against VMS?  No.  Everybody's 
> a target.  It's just whether you're an individual target, or somebody 
> that can get caught in a dragnet.

Yes, VMS is not perfect, but much better.

> VMS itself is also comparatively difficult to manage and troubleshoot.  
> VMS is a hassle for even experienced users.  It reminds me of RHEL 
> around version six or so, for the arcana required to make good use of 
> it.  In your case, witness your various SCSI questions, your current 
> AlphaStation RAM question, your clustering questions, your 
> errors-getting-logged question, and the rest.    These are not uncommon 
> questions and not uncommon requests, yet resolving them is not easy, 
> and in many cases not automatic.  That's a serious problem for an 
> operating system and the hardware involved, for your usage.  You're 
> clearly doing a whole lot of work here, and are very dependent on the 
> community to keep your servers running.

True, but I enjoy it.  :-)  Could I have (something equivalent to) HBVS 
on another platform?  It's not just duplication (which any RAID box can 
do) but availability.

> What finally got me to port desktops was the effort involved in dealing 
> with the common documents, dealing with spam, and related.  catdoc and 
> xpdf only got me so far, and strapping together and maintaining the 
> necessary pieces started to resemble the olympic yak-shaving event.

I bought my wife an iPad a bit more than a year ago (though these days 
our 4-year-old uses it just as much).  I seriously considered, if not 
switching to, then at least using Apple in addition to VMS.  I like many 
things about it: a bit better but a bit more expensive, everything from 
one company etc (again, reminds me of DEC).  But having Apple and not 
using the app store seems silly, especially when I have been considering 
ebooks and MP3s anyway, but I am simply too open-minded to deal with
this pre-kindergarten level of prudeness.