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From: McGuire_Ed@GRINNELL.MAILNET
Newsgroups: mod.computers.vax
Subject: SYS$SYSDISK
Message-ID: <8608070547.AA07075@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Wed, 6-Aug-86 13:03:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8608070547.AA07075
Posted: Wed Aug  6 13:03:00 1986
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>Date:     Sun, 3 Aug 86 7:04:24 EDT
>From:     Gail Rubin Walker <gwalker@spca.bbn.com>
>Subject:  sys$sysdisk
>
>... When VMS 3 came along, and putting
>the system files into roots like [SYS0.] started, DEC defined 2
>new logicals, sys$sysdevice and sys$sysroot. They then suggested
>that one define sys$sysdisk to be whichever of those 2 made things
>work best on your machine. (The idea was for migration - people
>were supposed to stop using sys$sysdisk and use whichever of the
>other 2 were appropriate for their application.)
>
>... I believe, though have no
>proof, that DEC software (and most others) do not use sys$sysdisk
>anymore so you should be free to define it to be whichever makes that
>software run. ... I don't know if clusters actually USE sys$sysdisk
>for anything.

SYS$SYSDISK is defined in STARTUP.COM as SYS$SYSROOT, independent of
whether one is running a cluster or not.  Based on that information and on
your enlightening history, my final comments are:

-  It is awfully strange that it would be missing from someone's system
   unless they modified STARTUP.COM (naughty, naughty) or removed it
   themselves.

-  Even though DEC probably doesn't use it, some older software products
   probably do use it, so I'm not going to remove it from MY system.  Since
   I can't find documentation on this migration path in the V4 doc set,
   I'm not going to redefine it either.