Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!hplabs!hpda!hpcupt1!vandys
From: vandys@hpcupt1.HP.COM (Andrew Valencia(Seattle))
Newsgroups: comp.os.misc
Subject: Re: Re: Cobol Data Corporation Cyber 180 (was Re: 64 bits)
Message-ID: <7140002@hpcupt1.HP.COM>
Date: 9 Jan 89 19:04:51 GMT
References: <2371@garth.UUCP>
Organization: Hewlett Packard, Cupertino
Lines: 50

/ hpcupt1:comp.os.misc / smryan@garth.UUCP (s m ryan) /  3:07 pm  Jan  7, 1989 /
>Think of all the wonderful things Unix offers that NOS/VE doesn't:
>- only two segments, static+heap and stack.
	The Regions VM system allows a sparse and pretty much arbitrary
address space.  Since V.2 and above have this, it seems to be pretty much
a part of UNIX.

>- no shared codes except libraries staticly assigned to segments.
	Regions has shared libraries, albeit a lame implementation.
Sun's merge with AT&T should hopefully improve this.  Many vendors
have improved markedly on this base implementation, all the way up to
dynamically-loaded libraries.

>- no unified command processing.
	Meaning a common JCL?  Dunno.  I worked with RJE and JES2, and
can appreciate the benefits of having a common way of managing jobs.
But a flexible and interactive environment like UNIX makes it hard to
just lay down the law on how a job should be presented to the system.
Bourne shell scripts are probably as close as you get.

>- no concept of subsystem which permit a layerring of commands.
	Not true.  When you enter mailx, for instance, you are in
a "subsystem" with a tailored set of commands.  A true hierarchy
could even be implemented, although nothing in UNIX forces this.
*Should* it force it?  I think not.  But that's just a personal
opinion.  If you can sell it to the standards bodies, more power
to you!

>- no segment=file concept so all disc io gets an extra transfer through
>  system buffers between the user space and discs.
	Mapped files are available on many VM systems.  Again, the Sun/AT&T
merge should hopefully provide Sun's mapped files implementation in terms
of the Regions VM system.  I'd say you can start counting on this feature
becoming standard.

>- no ability for file and system security.
	Various vendors have qualified all the way up to B1.  What sort of
security did you have in mind?  Your *average* UNIX system doesn't have
such security, as it can get in the way of normal user operations,
especially past the C level.

>Given all these features, I can certainly see why Unix is the wave of the
>future.

	Vendors are definitely listening to what customers want.  If
we don't, we lose.  So we are (at least around here).

				Andy

Disclaimer: these are only my own opinions!