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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!pwa-b!utah-gr!thomas
From: thomas@utah-gr.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.decus,net.unix,net.usenix
Subject: Re: Favorite operating systems query
Message-ID: <1747@utah-gr.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 17-Jun-86 13:18:56 EDT
Article-I.D.: utah-gr.1747
Posted: Tue Jun 17 13:18:56 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 19-Jun-86 03:58:24 EDT
References: <339@valid.UUCP> <452@geowhiz.UUCP>
Reply-To: thomas@utah-gr.UUCP (Spencer W. Thomas)
Distribution: net
Organization: University of Utah CS Dept
Lines: 38
Keywords: VMS, Multics, UNIX, fanaticism
Xref: linus net.decus:340 net.unix:7480 net.usenix:544

In article <452@geowhiz.UUCP> larry@geowhiz.UUCP (Larry McVoy) writes:
>1) the BSD fortran compiler is the worst excuse for a compiler the world has 
>   ever seen (reports of 4 to 400 times slower than VMS fortran).
Ultrix(tm) now comes with the "VMS" Fortran compiler (per report).
>
>3) Likewise with DCL (Dec Command Language).  It's like sh with more obscurity.
This is a plus??

>4) EDT - the VMS screen editor.  Somebody already fixed this by writing an emacs
>   interface to emulate EDT.
See (3).

>6) File system.  Why, oh, why, must the Unix file system be so fragile?  VMS
>   never loses your files.
I can count on the fingers of one foot the number of times I have lost a
file due to "file system fragility" in the last 5 years on a Unix
system.  This "myth" is just that, and it's time to lay it to rest.

>8) Robustness.  VMS almost *never* crashes.  Unix crashes all the time.  
See (6).  Well, not quite that good.  But the number of crashes not
related to something like device driver development or installation of a
half-baked remote file system has been VERY small at our site.  I have
seen a Vax stay up between PMs (every three months).  

Re: mail (one of your unnumbered comments).  I think that a system that
requires a remote machine to be up in order for you to send mail to
someone on that system s**ks the big one.  Maybe they've fixed it, but I
doubt it.  I remember watching a friend in France trying to send mail to
Massachusetts, and having it fail because a connection couldn't be
established to the remote machine *at that time*.  No queueing, just try
to send it later!  Sheesh!

Also, when was the last time you could run VMS on a Sun, or an Apollo,
or a Gould, or a Pyramid, or a Cray, or ....

'Nuff said.
-- 
=Spencer   ({ihnp4,decvax}!utah-cs!thomas, thomas@utah-cs.ARPA)