[Info-vax] VMS and package managers, was: Re: Micro Focus Merger with Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Software Business Segment

[Simon Clubley]

On 2016-10-04, John E. Malmberg <wb8tyw at qsl.net_work> wrote:
> On 10/3/2016 7:57 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>
>> If VMS had some kind of decent init system for startup, such a
>> package manager could then automatically insert the package into
>> the startup sequence (and at the correct point) if required and
>> then remove it automatically during product removal.
>
> I do not know what your definition of decent is.  The sysman utility can 
> update that startup database:
>
>    mcr sysman help startup
>

Decent means being able to enforce relationships between packages
by means of startup sequencing; sysman has absolutely no concept
of inter-package sequencing as far as I can see.

For example, the HP C compiler requires a manual change to systartup_vms
to start HP C _after_ startnet.com as shown here:

http://h41379.www4.hpe.com/commercial/c/docs/ig_bvbv_001.html#systartup

and requires the system manager to manually edit the startup file,
find the right place to manually add the required command, while
hoping the system manager hasn't either made a typo or forgotten to
test the changes (people _do_ test their startup changes, right ? :-)).

A decent init system handles all that for you and neither sysman
(as far as I can see) or systartup_vms.com falls into that category.

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
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