[Info-vax] DCL Syntax

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 8/30/2018 1:27 PM, Dave Froble wrote:
> On 8/30/2018 11:54 AM, Stephen Hoffman wrote:
>> Ayup.  OpenVMS I/O needs a complete overhaul, beyond the now-postponed
>> work on VAFS and 64-bit sector addresses and 4 KB sector sizes. There've
>> been earlier newsgroup discussions of hardware-related work including
>> (hypothetically) adding NVMe I/O and byte-addressable storage, too.  The
>> sheer scale of a modern, feature-competitive server operating system is
>> not to be underestimated.
>>
>> Just because any of us were willing to learn a particular API — and many
>> of us have spent decades learning OpenVMS and its incantations and its
>> glue code, often piecemeal — does not that mean that other folks will be
>> nearly as willing to make that same investment of focus and time.  Nor
>> does it mean that any of us won't have to learn new approaches.  Change
>> and churn is part of IT.   In the tech.  And in the expectations.
> 
> I read the above as a bit of a condemnation of VMS, specifically the 
> methods in performing tasks.  But, doesn't every OS out there have the 
> same concerns?  Not one of them reads your mind and does what you 
> desire, not what you asked for.
> 
> So at worst, VMS is equal to all others, and since I'm biased, I'd argue 
> that the usage of the APIs, VMS utilities, and yes DCL, are in some 
> cases superior.  If english is your first language, I'd argue VMS is far 
> superior in it's commands.
> 
> Just asking, does anyone have the byte addressable storage that has been 
> discussed?  Don't know.  Perhaps VMS could lead in this concept?
> 
> Just because some already know Linux doesn't mean VMS is less ....
> 
> All that written, yes, VMS does have some ugly warts and missing 
> capabilities.  But what doesn't?


Having warts is common. And having to add features later
in a products life often cause some compromises to be made.

I think VMS is missing more capabilities than most OS due
to many years of neglect.

But hopefully VSI wil fix that.

:-)

Even though I realize that their resources (funding) is not endless.

Arne