Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!sugar!ficc!karl
From: karl@ficc.uu.net (karl lehenbauer #)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Cobol Data Corporation Cyber 180 (was Re: 64 bits)
Keywords: CDC,Cyber180
Message-ID: <2618@ficc.uu.net>
Date: 4 Jan 89 17:31:45 GMT
References: <28200249@mcdurb> <451@babbage.acc.virginia.edu> <1951@scolex> <1121@raspail.UUCP>
Organization: Ferranti International Controls
Lines: 28

In article <1121@raspail.UUCP>, bga@raspail.UUCP (Bruce Albrecht) writes:
> I like NOS/VE a lot, so I'm going to pick some nits, here.  Although it has
> no pipes, most programs have input and output file parameters, and it is
> possible to create file connections from some files to other files.  It...

Yeah, even Kronos (super-old 6600 operating system) had standard input and
output, tho' severly batch oriented (no stderr either.)  It seemed really
cool at the time.

> ...I will admit that the file system has some defiencies.
> There are no links, no shorthand to specify parent directories, and wildcards
								      ^^^^^^^^^
> will definitely not be available before 1990, if at all (it's on the list, but
> some things can get deferred indefinitely).  

WHAT?!??  That is, like, a fatal deficiency.  One of the cool things about the
Unix command line interface is how easy it is to do wildcards without jacking
a bunch with your program.  Consequently, unlike other systems, most commands
for which wildcards are appropriate support them.  Argument processing under
Unix hasn't been standardized yet so it the combination occasionally causes
programs to screw up.  (For example, try under Sys V to 'touch' a file whose
filename starts with a dash.)  Nonetheless, if I understand you properly,
CDC filesystem software is absurdly substandard by present-day standards.

-- 
-- uunet!ficc!karl	"The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious
-- karl@ficc.uu.net	encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without 
			understanding." -- Justice Louis O. Brandeis