[Info-vax] VSI: "Official 8.4-1H1 Launch"

[Simon Clubley]

On 2015-06-08, Bob Koehler <koehler at eisner.nospam.decuserve.org> wrote:
> In article <ml4joc$cd7$1 at dont-email.me>, Stephen Hoffman <seaohveh at hoffmanlabs.invalid> writes:
>> On 2015-06-08 17:21:13 +0000, Bob Koehler said:
>> 
>>> In article <ctlofeFrb3vU3 at mid.individual.net>, 
>>> bill at server3.cs.scranton.edu (Bill Gunshannon) writes:
>>>> 
>>>> This may come off as a really stupid question, but isn't VMS a 
>>>> monolithic kernel?
>>> 
>>>    No.
>> 
>> Yes; OpenVMS is a monolithic kernel.
>> There's one honking big kernel address space that's shared, and where 
>> most of the operating system kernel — loaded in from various files — 
>> operates.
>
>    From that point of view, yes.  But who's CS class were we in when we
>    accepted that defintion of "monolithic".
>

Basically, every CS class I've ever come across.

It's how it's structured in memory, not on disk, which determines whether
it's classed as monolithic or not.

For example, the Linux kernel is way more modular and cleanly seperated
internally (and has most of it's I/O code pushed out to loadable modules)
than VMS is but that doesn't change the fact it's still regarded as a
monolithic kernel because everything in the kernel runs in a single
address space.

>    Never give Bill a break.
>

Even when he's right or asking intelligent questions ?

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Microsoft: Bringing you 1980s technology to a 21st century world