[Info-vax] Whither VMS?

[Michael Kraemer]

In article <tK6dnR3F2e9Xc1TXnZ2dnUVZ_vKdnZ2d at giganews.com>, "Richard B. Gilbert"
<rgilbert88 at comcast.net> writes:
> 
> I've never seen or heard of one.  It's not necessary to "avoid" certain 
> calls.  It IS necessary to understand exactly what you are doing. 

It's always good to think before coding.

> C is 
> really just a "portable" assembler.  You have to keep in mind that a 
> slip on your part might crash your process 

That's not restricted to C.

> or even your system.

How can a simple user app crash the system?
And why would that be a particular feature of C?
 
> C hands you both near total control AND near total responsibility! 

A user app written in C has not more control than if it were written
in PL/I.

> Use 
> it with care.  Consider whether or not C is the appropriate language for 
> what you are trying to do.

If portability is the prime directive, there's not much choice left
other than C/C++. Supports Roadrunner as well as PDP-11 (I guess).
Same goes for early support of new stuff (GPUs and Cell Engines come to mind).