[Info-vax] Long uptime cut short by Hurricane Sandy

[VAXman- at SendSpamHere.ORG]

In article <kermfk$i2b$1 at dont-email.me>, David Froble <davef at tsoft-inc.com> writes:
>VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote:
>> In article <ker9jj$nbi$1 at dont-email.me>, Stephen Hoffman <seaohveh at hoffmanlabs.invalid> writes:
>>> On 2013-02-05 02:17:28 +0000, AEF said:
>>>
>>>> On Feb 3, 3:31 pm, Stephen Hoffman <seaoh... at hoffmanlabs.invalid>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> Environment variables aren't a direct match to logical names.
>>>>> Similarities, yes, but there also are substantive differences, too.
>>>> Close enough for this. I just need to be able to use the variable as
>>>> part of a path.
>>>>
>>>> Seems to me that at the most basic level, logical names are
>>>> environment variables, in a sense anyway. Now, they have a much richer
>>>> structure, with the different tables of varying scope, the various
>>>> access modes, search lists, and what not. Their chief use is in
>>>> device- and file-specs, of course. But they're also used in MAIL, for
>>>> queues, for storing data, and more. So it's just a matter of what's
>>>> translating them in what context. There's the automatic translation
>>>> when part of a generalized file-spec, and automatic translation in
>>>> certain other contexts. That's all different from environment
>>>> variables in Unix. But I don't need all that for this. I just need the
>>>> ability to have something I can use in a path.
>>> So you are seeking a key-value data store, something that logical names 
>>> classically excel at stinking at.
>>>
>>> Logical names got us the morass that is the DEC C feature logical 
>>> names, after all.
>> 
>> Logical names did not create the morass.  
>> 
>> 
>
>Agreed.
>
>Many things (tools) can be misused.  It's not the fault of the tool.
>
>Just because you can drive a screw with a big enough hammer is not the 
>fault of either the screw or the hammer.

Aye!  And when all you have is a hammer, all the problems look like nails!
-- 
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker    VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG

Well I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.