[Info-vax] ODS-5 data/file recovery

[David Froble]

MG wrote:
> On 17-feb-2013 2:35, Stephen Hoffman wrote:
>> Why don't you do that?
>>
>> You've already been told where the specs are and what the differences
>> from the specs are.
>>
>> Get off your arse, and update the program.
> 
> That was hilarious, thanks!
> 
> /Sure/, yes, I will reprogram it... with my profound, two-and-a-half
> day and barely-read-into-it (amidst other activities... namely the
> migration), VMS file system knowledge.  LOL.
> 
> I find it quite telling that nobody felt the need to do it before me,
> so to speak.  I guess it's another sign of VMS' sad, but inevitable,
> fate.
> 
>  - MG
> 
> 

Maybe it's a sign that these types of disasters don't happen very often 
on VMS systems.  Ok, most of the credit for that may be that most VMS 
users have been around for some time, and have learned to be careful, 
and / or have learned how to protect against needing such data recovery 
tools.

If you don't need something, then not having it is not an indication of 
an OS in decline.

Now, if the program is doing a sanity check for ODS-2 disks, that's a 
reasonable thing.  However, aside from the sanity check, it's possible 
that the program might work on an ODS-5 disk.  I'm thinking that the 
sanity check should be informative, and not a "thou shall not pass".  A 
simple "do you want to continue anyway" question, at least for something 
that is read only, seems a bit more flexible.

You asked me in another post how much data I need to backup.  After 
thinking about that for a while, I've decided that it's a bogus 
question.  The real question is, "how valuable is your data?"  After 
deciding this, you then take whatever measures are necessary.