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From: bzs@bu-cs.bu.EDU (Barry Shein)
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Subject: Unix dead??? (long message)
Message-ID: <2942@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Date: Sun, 10-Aug-86 21:18:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: brl-smok.2942
Posted: Sun Aug 10 21:18:12 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 12-Aug-86 12:44:42 EDT
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>Isn't this the same magazine that had the 'Special Unix Issue' last
>year that compared the wonderful VMS BACKUP utility to the wimpy Unix
>'ar' backup utility?

>If more unix sites wasted time on the DEC professional the rag would probably
>be laughed out of existance.

Hey, wait a minute...I published an article in this magazine on UNIX
and it was absolutely correct in every detail :-)

To shed a little light from my experience with them, I had no
particular reason to believe anyone had ever critically read my
submission before publishing it (other than the people involved in the
article's format and perhaps writing style.)

It isn't exactly a refereed journal. They are biased towards VMS
inasmuch as DEC is and (hence) DEC's customers [at least from the
magazine's point of view.]

I'm mixed, on the one hand, yes, the quality can be quite low. On the
other hand, you might see most any view published eventually as they
have fairly loose editorial policies.

I think the best way to view the Dec Professional and other, similar,
trade magazines is that they're kinda like USENET or these mailing
lists (only cheaper :-). To be read with a grain of salt probably for
ideas, comments etc that you can judge for yourself, not as gospel.
And of course, the ads, which are useful.

As for Dvorak, he speaks with the same tone of desperation of other
VMSoids, blaming UNIX for the inevitable collapse of their favorite
piece of malengineering.

Maybe, I suppose a monopoly would help their cause.

Look, there's two ways to make yourself feel taller in this world,
grow or try to make everyone else stand in a hole.

Dvorak has clearly chosen the latter path and it's pretty pathetic.

As with politics, be very suspicious of anyone who can only talk about
what s/he doesn't like and leaves one only to wonder what it is s/he
does like and why.

	-Barry Shein, Boston University