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From: wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: VMS documentation?
Message-ID: <899@pyuxa.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 23-Jul-84 08:00:20 EDT
Article-I.D.: pyuxa.899
Posted: Mon Jul 23 08:00:20 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 24-Jul-84 03:52:40 EDT
References: <978@ihuxi.UUCP>, <627@opus.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Piscataway N.J.
Lines: 20

I have had occasion to use both systems (VMS,UNIX) documentation
The VMS documentation is far and away better than the UNIX.  If
your interested in fingding out about various aspects of VMS, DEC
puts out little, pocketbook sized manuals which will get the
novice started.  You have to search the bookstores for UNIX
books that are comparable.  If Unix has such good documentation,
then why is there an entire department dedicated to rewriting
the entire mess?  It's because they know what a bad job has been
done in the past.  Everything I know about VMS I was able to
get from the documentation.  What I know about UNIX, I had to read
some musty old paper, then quiz a half a dozen people for the
correct usage of something.  The documentation and command
structure selection of UNIX is the biggest headache people
run into.  Someone said that UNIX was written by programmers
for programmers.  Well, what more can be said of that statement.
Whats more, Western Electric even redid the standard UNIX
documentation because even their people could not understand
the mess thet the labs put out.
T. C. Wheeler