[Info-vax] CRTL and RMS vs SSIO

[Dave Froble]

On 10/12/2021 2:26 PM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> On 10/12/2021 2:14 PM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>> On 10/12/21 1:29 PM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>>> I suspect that you are again talking about the fact
>>> that address fields did not increase from 32 to 64 bit
>>> when moving from VAX to Alpha.
>
>>> FAB/RAB blocks could have been changed back then. But DEC
>>> decided not to.
>>
>> Yea, why would anyone ever need more than 32bits of addressable
>> data.  :-)
>
> Well this was when they switched from 32 bit addresses
> to 64 bit addresses (well at least architecturally - actual
> support arrived later over time), so ...
>
> But allowing VAX code to build on Alpha with minimum changes
> was obviously a top priority.
>
> Was that a good or bad decision?
>
> I don't know.

How about this perspective?

I'd suggest that for DEC, keeping their existing customers was rather 
important.

Are there volunteers working on Linux capabilities who just might not 
give a damn whether anyone ever used Linux?  Some might do it just for 
fun.  Some for ego, and didn't care if others considered their work usable.

Yes, I'm aware of all those developers who work for companies doing 
Linux development, so don't go there.

Regardless, I think comparing Linux and VMS just isn't reasonable.

Linux is basically free, the developers are not counting on their work 
to pay the mortgage.

DEC depended on revenue from VMS.  Though that begs the question, why 
were people at DEC trying to kill off VMS?


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David Froble                       Tel: 724-529-0450
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