[Info-vax] Desirable features for VMS

[Marc Van Dyck]

Simon Clubley wrote on 25/01/2024 :
> On 2024-01-24, Dave Froble <davef at tsoft-inc.com> wrote:
>> On 1/24/2024 8:13 AM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>>> On 2024-01-23, Dave Froble <davef at tsoft-inc.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> What is really rude is talking about Linux on c.o.v ...
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> Unless you consider VMS to be perfect and not in need of any improvement,
>>> other operating systems offer some good ideas that it would be nice to
>>> see in VMS, especially around security and internal isolation in general.
>>> 
>> 
>> Then discuss the ideas and concepts ...
>> 
>
> OK.
>
> A random sample of things from Linux/Unix I would like to see in VMS:
>
> Mandatory Access Controls (my preference) or jails (Stephen's preference).
>
> A shell with decent modern functionality such as:
>
> 	Proper command history retention and merging from multiple sessions
> 	Easy searching of command history
> 	Tab completion
> 	Editing long command lines
> 	Globbing
>
> Proper package management and management of updates.
>
> Loadable and unloadable kernel modules, with device driver/filesystem/etc
> functionality available from within these modules.
>
> ASLR and KASLR support.
>
> Proper timezone management. (Everything is always UTC based, and your
> timezone is merely a local session property with no effect on the
> on-disk timestamps).
>
> The last one is policy-based, not technical:
>
> A vendor that has proper security reporting mechanisms.
>
> Does anyone have any others to add to the list ?
>
> Simon.

One of the slogans that were used to sell OpenVMS is "When downtime is
not an option". Yes we still need to reboot the system each time we
install a new operating system or major patch. There should be a way to
perform those operations without shutting down the service. If this is
not possible, rolling upgrades across clusters remain an alternative,
but then we need a way to move a process or a set of processes from one
cluster member to another without any impact or user visibility.

-- 
Marc Van Dyck