[Info-vax] Using VMS for a web server

[David Froble]

Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> In article <mkv59v$jue$1 at dont-email.me>,
> 	David Froble <davef at tsoft-inc.com> writes:
>> Dirk Munk wrote:
>>> Jan-Erik Soderholm wrote:
>>>
>>>> I had a talk with a customer last week. We comment the fact
>>>> that there had been no support ticket regarding the platform
>>>> (HW, VMS and Rdb, more or less) since last reboot June-14.
>>>> And very few application level supports tickets b.t.w.
>>>> It's rock solid.
>>>>
>>>> This is of course a good thing for the users, but it does not help
>>>> building and maintaining the knowledge in the support group. :-)
>>>> And that is actualy seen as a real problem...
>>>>
>>> I applied for a VMS job several months ago. During the job interview I 
>>> was asked about my knowledge on all kind of other things, but not on 
>>> VMS. I wasn't an expert on those areas, so they said that would be a 
>>> problem. When I replied that they were asking for a VMS expert, they 
>>> never mentioned those other areas of expertise. Well, that was true, but 
>>> the VMS system had the habit of doing what it was suppose to do, and it 
>>> had been doing that for years. It never needed any human assistance or 
>>> intervention. In fact I would have almost nothing to do if my only work 
>>> would be maintaining the VMS system.
>>>
>>> To be fair, other systems can be made to run very reliable as well, but 
>>> quite often systems are set up to run, not to run reliable. The drive to 
>>> build reliable systems often just isn't there.
>>>
>> It can be worse than that.
>>
>> At one former customer, there was this lady in charge of IT.  Two person 
>> shop, so that made her both chief and indian.  The way she put things 
>> together, she made herself indispensible.  The management knew it.  They 
>> didn't know what to do about it.  Any time they said something, she 
>> threatened to quit.  The stuff she was in charge of needed manual 
>> control, every day.  If she left, they were dead in the water.
>>
>> Now, I've heard that if you have someone irreplacable, the first step is 
>> to fire them.  They should have been training others is what needed to 
>> be done, and didn't for whatever reason, including guaranteed job 
>> security.  Things could only get worse.
>>
>> They had one application I provided back in 1985, running on RSTS, and 
>> ported to VAX-VMS in the 1990s.  It did not need the daily hand holding. 
>>   It was the only reliable application they had.  So, you guessed it, 
>> management was enamored by weendoze, and wanted that application ported 
>> (re-written) for weendoze.  It was good money.
>>
>> Stick around in this business long enough, and nothing will ever 
>> surprise you.
> 
> And the moral of the story:
>   If you run something obscure you can be blackmailed by poor employees
>   but if you run what is the Industry Standard they can't get away with
>   it.
> 
> How exactly does your story provide a recommendation for going with VMS?
> 
> bill
> 

It had nothing at all to do with VMS, other than the part about the app 
I provided, originally on RSTS and then on VMS.  The story was about one 
of the sorry practices I've seen.  And about poor management and judgment.

Now, the business was rather custom, and they were constantly looking 
for an "industry standard" application, but Word and Excel wasn't going 
to run the company.