[Info-vax] DEC Large Systems

[Bill Gunshannon]

On 6/27/19 12:18 PM, clair.grant at vmssoftware.com wrote:
> On Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 7:50:51 AM UTC-4, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>> Another question born out of curiosity.
>>
>> I was looking at a catalog called Large Systems Software
>> Referral Catalog (Fourth Edition) from 1984.
>>
>> It lists DECsystem-10, DECSYSTEM-20 and VAX. (notice the
>> curious spellings used by DEC themselves  :-)
>>
>> What exactly did the VAX offer or what shortcomings were
>> seen in the 10 and 20 that caused VAX to become the hero
>> and the other large systems to go away?
>>
>> bill
> 
> As we sat in a conference room in Marlboro, MA (home of the Large Computer Group) many years ago, Gordon Bell told us, "it is a 32bit world and we need to stop pursuing 36bit systems." That is as close as I can come to a direct quote today but I know it is darn close.
> 
> Many of us left the room and started looking for another job.

For a man as brilliant as Gordon Bell was he could sure be stupid
sometimes.  32bit/36bit?  The user world probably never cared.  It
was (and is) the applications that make a system worthwhile.  The
PDP-11 started at 16bits, went to 18bits and eventually to 24bits.
And I am sure it could have moved on from there to 32bits and even, 
eventually to 64bits.  I suspect the 10 and 20 likewise.

And, comparing the any of this to the move from VAX to Alpha is
really apples and oranges.  Word Size was trivial compared to the
real architectural changes in that  move.  Wether or not the
move to RISC was worth it is for another argument.  I expect that
for most of the VAX customers at that time it was meaningless
and really brought nothing of value to the table.

Sometimes I look back at the direction this industry has moved and
just want to cry.


bill