[Info-vax] Extended file spec support on CSWS & PHP7

[Stephen Hoffman]

On 2020-08-28 19:44:52 +0000, hb said:

> At least on Alpha and C++ images there are known problems setting the 
> DECC features in lib$initialize in main, which can be avoided with 
> lib$initialize in a shareable image.

So the (documented) hack requires additional (undocumented) hacks?

Okay; thanks for that workaround. That might just be very useful.

That workaround-on-a-workaround will be "fun" to document in the next 
project that I need deploy these workarounds within.

But then nobody hopefully need defend this logical name miasma.

OpenVMS developers are certainly not alone in having expected tech 
writers to cover for design or implementation omissions, 
incompleteness, or errors.

Dancing around the actual reasons tends to lead to twisted prose. Kind 
of like learning about and spotting the use of passive voice, too.

Once you recognize the twisted prose or the passive voice or such, you 
do start to see the same writing techniques applied elsewhere.

There've been some useful and well-done and well-received OpenVMS 
presentations repeated over the years that long left me wondering "why 
just fix the bug/flaw/confusion, and stop presenting the way 'round 
it?", though.

ACME LDAP has been one such area. That did see one recent 
simplification, though more work there is needed. These C logical names 
are another. 32-/64-bit is another. Areas either assiduously ignored, 
or defensively documented.

Here? The whole C logical name mess is a mess, and it's not going to 
get better until it gets replaced. Which isn't happening anytime soon.

So... this means more twisted proses, I expect. Twisted prose in my 
next project, and (looks around) in any currently-open projects using 
the lib$initialize workarounds, in my case.

Hacking is such sweet sorrow.


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