[Info-vax] DCL, DLM, APIs, RAS, RuleWorks, etc (was: Re: VAX Common Lisp)

[Stephen Hoffman]

On 2022-10-25 13:12:39 +0000, Simon Clubley said:

> On 2022-10-24, Dave Froble <davef at tsoft-inc.com> wrote:
>> On 10/24/2022 6:06 PM, Robert Carleton wrote:
>>> 
>>> Lisp implementations frequently have the ability to save an image of 
>>> their state to disk. Coordinating one cluster node to save the image, 
>>> then have a new process start on a different cluster node from the 
>>> image should be possible. Is there a C API for DLM?
>>> 
>> 
>> VMS is not (hawk, spit, gag) C, and (hawk, spit, gag) C is not VMS
>> 
>> There are a system services for using the DLM.  Callable from ALL VMS 
>> languages.
>> Even (hawk, spit, gag) C.
>> 
> 
> Not DCL however (at least as a part of VMS). That's a really big omission.

The DLM API was and remains a nice box of parts arising from the 1980s, 
and does still work and does work well, but the API is really showing 
its age.

Also showing OpenVMS development's longstanding proclivity for 
flexibility over usability, combined with the avoidance of having 
opinions, but I digress.

Doing a doorbell scheme is just stupidly complex with a whole lot of 
user-written code, and the same for electing a primary process in a 
cluster.

API support and documentation for creating cluster-aware and secure 
networked apps is unfortunately lacking, too.

What is available is scattered around in the programming concepts and 
networking manuals, and Y2K and newer is absolutely missing from the 
security manuals, among other rough patches.

NB: I know how to do all of this. I've done this. All of it. I know the 
APIs. I know the value. But wow, this stuff is just absurd to use.

And that's all before discussions approaching the addition of support 
for app checkpoint-restart, whether that single host or cluster, 
writing apps for clusters, or the utter lack of online backup sync, and 
other software reliability-availability-scalability features.

And yes, the lack of DCL support for DLM, and the lack of DCL ssh and 
sftp/scp, and the lack of SSH/TLS networking and authentication 
generally, and a whole pile of other areas, is, well, lacking.

As for Lisp at DEC, that faded out with the DEC OPS-5 RuleWorks era, 
and that's been available on the Freeware.  
https://www.digiater.nl/openvms/freeware/v50/ruleworks/  Also see past 
Lisp discussions here in the c.o.v. archives, too.

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