INFO-VAX Sat, 27 Oct 2007 Volume 2007 : Issue 588 Contents: DCL Help F$FAO error (VAX VMS 7.3, Alpha VMS 8.3) RE: Happy Anniversary VMS - 30 years young Re: Happy Anniversary VMS - 30 years young Re: Happy Anniversary VMS - 30 years young Re: Happy Anniversary VMS - 30 years young Re: Happy Anniversary VMS - 30 years young RE: Happy Anniversary VMS - 30 years young Re: MAC OS-X or Linux ? Re: MAC OS-X or Linux ? Re: Martin Fink Webcast Re: Martin Fink Webcast Re: Martin Fink Webcast ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:57:23 +0200 From: Wilm Boerhout Subject: DCL Help F$FAO error (VAX VMS 7.3, Alpha VMS 8.3) Message-ID: <472335be$0$25480$ba620dc5@text.nova.planet.nl> For all you DCL jockeys out there: I recently had a need for the F$FAO "plurals" directive, and DCL help led me astray: from "help F$FAO directives" I understood that the plurals directives should be used as follows: $ say f$fao("!2UL artike!1%C!%E!%F", n, "l", "len") where instead the proper use is: $ say f$fao("!2UL artike!1%Cl!%Elen!%F", n) I.e. the arguments are not placed in the parameter list as suggested in DCL help, but in line in thee FAO string. The documentation is probably right (saw an excerpt on the 'net), just not the DCL help. /Wilm PS Dutch word for English "article" = "artikel" (singular), "artikelen", 0 or plural ------------------------------ Date: 27 Oct 2007 11:06:15 +0200 From: peter@langstoeger.at (Peter 'EPLAN' LANGSTOeGER) Subject: RE: Happy Anniversary VMS - 30 years young Message-ID: <47231ba7$1@news.langstoeger.at> In article , "Main, Kerry" writes: >Well, its one thing to constantly say its raining, but when the sun comes out >occasionally, there is nothing wrong with recognizing that a bit of sun shine >is a good thing. Enjoy it. We all enjoy it. But: JF/others only repeat himself/themselves because he/they has/ve the impression that you/HPQ deny/ies that it is raining (cause you/HPQ *only* talk about the few sunny hours per year instead of the whole weather) Nuff said (cause I'm not JF) -- Peter "EPLAN" LANGSTOEGER Network and OpenVMS system specialist E-mail peter@langstoeger.at A-1030 VIENNA AUSTRIA I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 06:12:33 -0400 From: JF Mezei Subject: Re: Happy Anniversary VMS - 30 years young Message-ID: <75ca$47230f16$cef8887a$16788@TEKSAVVY.COM> To all those who complain about me. There will come a time (perhaps sooner rather than later) where I really just won't care anymore about VMS and will laugh instead of cry when HP execs go in public to mention that VMS is for the installed based only and will now refrain from saying anything more than "we will continue to support it" (with the word "developed" no longer mentioned.) And when HP announces the end of the line for VMS, it won't bother me anymore because I will have moved on to a platform that doesn't generate so much anger and incertainty because the vendor is unwilling to do the simplest things to market the product and try to give it the life it deserves. I was about to write a nice "press release" example to show what HP could have done to really celebrate the 30th anniversary, but you know what, I don't care anymore. TO Mr Main: you essentially called me a twit for thinking it was possible for a multi-billion dollar corporation to put one its own own products on its front web page: minutes later, someone pointed out that it had in fact been put on the HP web page in a semi-visible way (doesn't work with secured browsers). I don't expect an apology from you, but I hope you have learned that even for large corporations, where there is a will, there is a way. For all the others: I am not the one who wrote the infamous Stallard memo. I am not the one who essentially repeated that infamous policy almost verbatim this past summer to Computerworld. I am not the one who told Cerner et all to not bother with VMS anymore. Being angry at me won't do anything to help VMS' cause. If the HP-employed VMS loyalists refuse to see the writing on the wall then so be it, they will simply let their employer continue with their policy of de-emphasising VMS out of existance. HP's strategy is to not kill VMS. Doing so will ensure a good proportion of VMS customers leave HP and not come back for a very long time. By keeping VMS on life support, they can then pull other strings to nudge customers onto other HP products. Once HP has latched on to these customers via other HP products, then it will be able to kill VMS and there won't be much of a funeral because everyone will have left VMS by then. One of the strings HP is now playing with is getting ISVs to reduce support of VMS and move to HP-UX. So HP isn't blamed if Cerner gets customers to move to HP-UX. HP is doing just enough so it cannot be accused of actively killing VMS. (Although Stallard and now Livermore have made statements that are very damaging to VMS). It would be very simple for HP to signify that its true intentions are not those mentioned above. But HP refuses to do so. It is HP that has chosen to not promote VMS and only mention VMS to the installed base. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 13:09:29 +0200 From: Dirk Munk Subject: Re: Happy Anniversary VMS - 30 years young Message-ID: JF Mezei wrote: > IanMiller wrote: >> Visit >> http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/30th/index.html >> and see Mark Hurd talk about VMS!!! > > > In normal companies, it would not be considered a special event to have > the CEO mention one of his products. > > And since HP is intent on circumscribing its discussions to only the > remaining installed base, there is no rejoicing in having some clueless > CEO implicitely confirm they have no intentions of growing VMS, or > re-instating the engineering numbers needed to keep VMS moving forwards. > > > Since Ann Livermore is still in her position, despite having confirmed > in a major newspaper that Stallard's absolute blunder of May 7th 2002 > was in fact corporate policy even in 2007, then one cannot but conclude > that Hurd agrees with this policy. (catering to installed base in the > hopes that they remain with HP when they drop VMS). Is this the Livermore quote you are referring to? "In particular for our OpenVMS customers, we are very focused on our installed base. We want our installed base to be happy, and if or when they ever want to migrate, we want them to migrate to another HP platform." Unless SUN is owned by HP, they don't migrate to HP. In my company HP=UX is also considered to be a kind of Dinosaur, so the number of HP-UX systems is decreasing as well. We still have lots of HP x86 boxes. They are quite good, but on the other hand you can run Windows or Linux on any x86 box. Not a very good argument for customer loyalty. > > At least HP is now much more open about its policy of downsizing VMS out > of existance and moving the few key ISVs such as Cerner to other HP > products before VMS sinks. > > When VMS engineers were stating that there were no plans to move VMS > beyond that IA64 contraption, perhaps they were sending a clear message > that VMS is now in a dead end and the end is coming soon when IA64 is > confirmed as a mature platform in a year or two. > > My only hope is that the vast majority of those leaving VMS will not be > HP customers after VMS. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:25:01 +0200 From: "Dr. Dweeb" Subject: Re: Happy Anniversary VMS - 30 years young Message-ID: <47232e21$0$7608$157c6196@dreader2.cybercity.dk> Dirk Munk wrote: > Bob Koehler wrote: >> In article , Dirk Munk >> writes: >>> OpenVMS customers have been paranoid about HP's intend with their >>> OS, and with good reason. >>> >>> With that in mind, I wonder if anyone noticed that Mr. Hurd said >>> that HP would support OpenVMS , not support and continue to develop >>> OpenVMS or something similar. >>> >>> I don't know if this is significant, maybe we should ask for a >>> clarification? >> >> Maybe you're splitting hairs on a bald man. >> > Don't you remember the days that Digital / Compaq etc. told us that of > course they would support VMS customers, but that they also would be > very happy to assist VMS customers to migrate their application to > WinNT or Unix? Customers understood very well what was meant by that: > MOVE AWAY FROM VMS !! And they did. > > Mr. Hurd must be aware of this history, and so we may expect him to be > very precise in what he is saying about VMS. The fact that he doesn't > say anything about the future or vitality of VMS and only talks about > supporting it may have some significance. > > Sometimes the true meaning of a speech doesn't lie in what has been > said, but in what hasn't been said. History is full of examples. On my desk is the Celebrating "VAX OpenVMS at 20 - Nothing Stops It" banner stand. I guess its been there 10 years. I was pretty sure at the time that VMS would not see 30, so I guess I was wrong there. I was right about the fact that the decline had started, that it was intentional, and that it was unstoppable though. It is just going to take a bit longer due to the inertia of systems. It is just hard work, time consuming and expensive to convert multi-billion dollar corps off one platform to another. VMS is so dismally insignificant in the market place now that I no longer work with it and was not at (or even invited to) and 30th anniversary event. Sad really ... I was talking to a former colleague yesterday - his company (a houshold name, multi-billion US corp) is now well on the way to the complete elimination of the HP logo and all the VMS machines that previously ran the business. This is one of many, many departures from VMS who will never be coming back. They were buttf****ed by HP and HP will never sell another item there. As it should be, but sadly, VMS is the victim of HPs ineptitude (or perhaps it is directed malice). Anyway, guys, like I have said before - there is no future for VMS because HP does not want one. It constitutes about 1% of the revenues (a wild unsubstantiated guess to make a point) and is thus off Hurd's radar. We all need to deal with it and get on with our lives, looking after our families and looking forward to retirement on some tropical island. Dr. Dweeb (A sad refugee to the disaster zone that is MS enterprise systems - what a crock - but yours and my future!) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 11:36:14 -0400 From: "Ken Robinson" Subject: Re: Happy Anniversary VMS - 30 years young Message-ID: <7dd80f60710270836k59aef042rbc0daf351443561b@mail.gmail.com> On 10/27/07, Dr. Dweeb wrote (in part): > Anyway, guys, like I have said before - there is no future for VMS because > HP does not want one. It constitutes about 1% of the revenues (a wild > unsubstantiated guess to make a point) and is thus off Hurd's radar. We all > need to deal with it and get on with our lives, looking after our families > and looking forward to retirement on some tropical island. There's a good article on internetnews.com about the 30th Anniversary . It seems to contradict your opinion. One quote I find particularly interesting is "As part of its anniversary celebrations, HP is rolling out a new marketing campaign for the middle-aged OS,". Ken ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 16:06:36 +0000 From: "Main, Kerry" Subject: RE: Happy Anniversary VMS - 30 years young Message-ID: > -----Original Message----- > From: JF Mezei [mailto:jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca] > Sent: October 27, 2007 6:13 AM > To: Info-VAX@Mvb.Saic.Com > Subject: Re: Happy Anniversary VMS - 30 years young > > To all those who complain about me. > > There will come a time (perhaps sooner rather than later) where I > really > just won't care anymore about VMS and will laugh instead of cry when HP > execs go in public to mention that VMS is for the installed based only > and will now refrain from saying anything more than "we will continue > to > support it" (with the word "developed" no longer mentioned.) And when > HP > announces the end of the line for VMS, it won't bother me anymore > because I will have moved on to a platform that doesn't generate so > much > anger and incertainty because the vendor is unwilling to do the > simplest > things to market the product and try to give it the life it deserves. > > > I was about to write a nice "press release" example to show what HP > could have done to really celebrate the 30th anniversary, but you know > what, I don't care anymore. > > TO Mr Main: you essentially called me a twit for thinking it was > possible for a multi-billion dollar corporation to put one its own own > products on its front web page: minutes later, someone pointed out that > it had in fact been put on the HP web page in a semi-visible way > (doesn't work with secured browsers). I don't expect an apology from > you, but I hope you have learned that even for large corporations, > where > there is a will, there is a way. > First - I did not infer you were a twit. On the contrary, While I may not agree with all of the doom-n-gloom, you have a huge passion for OpenVMS and technically very astute. There is no doubt about that. Apology? I was simply pointing out that the main HP.com page is usually reserved for Mom and Pop looking for entertainment, printer drivers, laptop= s and desktop type stuff. And I was not kidding when I said HP literally has hundreds of products. The fact that HP put OpenVMS on the main site is a huge step for HP - when was the last time anyone saw HP-UX or NSK on the front page like this? In the past, threads here were full of "Why can't HP get Mark Hurd to say some positive things about OpenVMS?" and "why can't HP promote OpenVMS more on its non-OpenVMS web pages?" So, HP made both these happen and yet there are still some on this list who refuse to even acknowledge this as a good thing. Yes, there is lots more to do, but as they say, lets enjoy the moment. > For all the others: I am not the one who wrote the infamous Stallard > memo. I am not the one who essentially repeated that infamous policy > almost verbatim this past summer to Computerworld. I am not the one who > told Cerner et all to not bother with VMS anymore. Being angry at me > won't do anything to help VMS' cause. > > If the HP-employed VMS loyalists refuse to see the writing on the wall > then so be it, they will simply let their employer continue with their > policy of de-emphasising VMS out of existance. > Everyone on this list (including me) agrees there could be better marketing= , but the HP-UX and NSK groups would say the same thing. Its not just OpenVMS. > HP's strategy is to not kill VMS. Doing so will ensure a good > proportion > of VMS customers leave HP and not come back for a very long time. By > keeping VMS on life support, they can then pull other strings to nudge > customers onto other HP products. Once HP has latched on to these > customers via other HP products, then it will be able to kill VMS and > there won't be much of a funeral because everyone will have left VMS by > then. > > One of the strings HP is now playing with is getting ISVs to reduce > support of VMS and move to HP-UX. So HP isn't blamed if Cerner gets > customers to move to HP-UX. > > HP is doing just enough so it cannot be accused of actively killing > VMS. > (Although Stallard and now Livermore have made statements that are > very damaging to VMS). > And Senior VP's of IBM have made very bad public statements about AIX in th= e past. Do you really think IBM is going to drop AIX anytime soon? Of course not. > It would be very simple for HP to signify that its true intentions are > not those mentioned above. But HP refuses to do so. It is HP that has > chosen to not promote VMS and only mention VMS to the installed base. See notes about marketing - its not a VMS only issue. And btw, OpenVMS is winning new Customers. And here is good HP web site that I like: http://tinyurl.com/2wcfjp "The amazing operating system you've never heard of" Regards Kerry Main Senior Consultant HP Services Canada Voice: 613-592-4660 Fax: 613-591-4477 kerryDOTmainAThpDOTcom (remove the DOT's and AT) OpenVMS - the secure, multi-site OS that just works. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 03:02:49 -0500 From: Ron Johnson Subject: Re: MAC OS-X or Linux ? Message-ID: On 10/26/07 21:34, Bob Harris wrote: > In article , > Ron Johnson wrote: > >> On 10/25/07 22:39, Bob Harris wrote: >>> In article <1acdd$4720ab25$cef8887a$15776@TEKSAVVY.COM>, >>> JF Mezei wrote: >>> >>>> Ron Johnson wrote: >>>> >>>>> And OSX users. Unless you've figured out a way to disable the GUI. >>>> While I still haven't found a way to telnet into the mac, I can ssh into >>>> it and issue plenty of unix commands. And I can run X applications on >>>> the mac that display on an x terminal. (But the native mac applications >>>> don't do that). >>> To access the GUI stuff, I just use VNC and view the desktop. So >>> I use a combination of ssh for terminal sessions and VNC if I want >>> the desktop (I actually tunnel the VNC via an ssh tunnel over the >>> same ssh terminal connection. >> But that just seems so *hackish* (and not is the good connotation). >> >> X Windows' network transparency seems much cleaner to me, since you >> don't need to run a full-blown GUI on the server (which is actually >> an X client). > > But since Mac OS X is NOT X11 based, using VNC is a way to access > the Mac OS X GUI apps remotely, if you need to do it once in a > while, or even regularly if you have enough bandwidth. > > In addition, I've used X11 2000 miles from Client to Server, and > X11 can be VERY chatty, True. It was designed to be operated over a LAN, not a WAN, since WAN speeds were typically 56Kbps back in the mid-80s. > where VNC can be much more bandwidth > efficient. A lot depends on the X11 app. You have never lived > until you have waited 10 to 20 seconds for a menu click to display > the menu, and for multiple clicks to be queued and be totally > confused about where you are in an X11 app. "Been there done > that", I'll use VNC in that situation, thank you. > > As far as VNC is concerned, I use to to control Linux systems, > Windows systems, as well as Mac OS X systems. I also use X11 and > ssh sessions as well. I use what gets the job done efficiently. > 'cleaner' means nothing if it is too slow. > > When using VNC at home, it is very fast, as I've got high speed > connections between my home systems. The work connection across > 2000 miles is good as well. ssh offers compression. LBX (low-bandwidth X) never got off the ground because tunneling X over ssh offered better performance. > When controlling my Mom's iMac 300 > miles away, the bandwidth is less, but perfectly acceptable in > avoiding a trip to Mom's house. > > So while you may consider it *hackish*, it is effective, and I've > got the experience to know what I'm talking about. "Hackish" and effective are orthogonal. Thus it's possible to be hackish and effective at the same time. That's why I didn't call VNC stupid, or some stronger derogative. -- Ron Johnson, Jr. Jefferson LA USA Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Hit him with a fish, and he goes away for good! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 10:47:10 GMT From: VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG Subject: Re: MAC OS-X or Linux ? Message-ID: In article , Bob Harris writes: > > >In article , > Ron Johnson wrote: > >> On 10/25/07 22:39, Bob Harris wrote: >> > In article <1acdd$4720ab25$cef8887a$15776@TEKSAVVY.COM>, >> > JF Mezei wrote: >> > >> >> Ron Johnson wrote: >> >> >> >>> And OSX users. Unless you've figured out a way to disable the GUI. >> >> While I still haven't found a way to telnet into the mac, I can ssh into >> >> it and issue plenty of unix commands. And I can run X applications on >> >> the mac that display on an x terminal. (But the native mac applications >> >> don't do that). >> > >> > To access the GUI stuff, I just use VNC and view the desktop. So >> > I use a combination of ssh for terminal sessions and VNC if I want >> > the desktop (I actually tunnel the VNC via an ssh tunnel over the >> > same ssh terminal connection. >> >> But that just seems so *hackish* (and not is the good connotation). >> >> X Windows' network transparency seems much cleaner to me, since you >> don't need to run a full-blown GUI on the server (which is actually >> an X client). > >But since Mac OS X is NOT X11 based, using VNC is a way to access >the Mac OS X GUI apps remotely, if you need to do it once in a >while, or even regularly if you have enough bandwidth. > >In addition, I've used X11 2000 miles from Client to Server, and >X11 can be VERY chatty, where VNC can be much more bandwidth >efficient. A lot depends on the X11 app. You have never lived >until you have waited 10 to 20 seconds for a menu click to display >the menu, and for multiple clicks to be queued and be totally >confused about where you are in an X11 app. "Been there done >that", I'll use VNC in that situation, thank you. VNC is efficient? It's a screen scraper. I use it to access a remote Weendoze box and the router/network activity peg. >As far as VNC is concerned, I use to to control Linux systems, >Windows systems, as well as Mac OS X systems. I also use X11 and >ssh sessions as well. I use what gets the job done efficiently. >'cleaner' means nothing if it is too slow. When the VNC server dies on the Weendoze box, how to you access it to restore your accessibility? -- VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)COM "Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?" http://tmesis.com/drat.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 20:24:19 +0930 From: Mark Daniel Subject: Re: Martin Fink Webcast Message-ID: <13i668t7a1jvd22@corp.supernews.com> David J Dachtera wrote: > As I was unable to participate in the webcast due to family issues, I'm hoping > there will be a transcript/recording/download/etc. of it available at some > point. > > I think its fair to say that the question I posed - as I posed it - was not > addressed: > > 1. OpenVMS, HP Business Continuity > > HP recently went around to the major OpenVMS ISVs (Cerner, MiSys (aka Sunquest), > and others) and promoted UX instead of OpenVMS on Itanium causing a large-scale > abandonment of both OpenVMS and HP in favor of IBM and AIX. We know this because > our vendors told us this is what happened and our colleagues at other sites tell > us that this is how their management have responded to the word from the > vendors. Please explain HP's thinking in this action, and what, if anything, HP > is doing to stem this tide, if not reverse it. Assuming the veracity of this report (amongst others in this forum) the VMS 30th Anniversary feels an awfully like being amongst the relatives and well-wishers gathered around the ICU bed of a much-loved sportsman seriously injured in a low-speed collision with a shopping trolley. The respirator chugs its whirrr-chup-sigh-whirrr-chup-sigh. The heart monitor continues its intermittent and largely silent trace. A urinary catheter drains the kidneys into a clear plastic bag placed discretely below eye-level. The gastric feeding tube ensures macro- and micro-nutrients, electrolytes, and fluids continue to sustain essential metabolic activity. Venepuncture administered barbituates suppress potential seizures. All these are periodically checked and supplemented or replaced as necessary. The EEG display is flat and the high-profile club for which the sportsman was once an elite player has quietly suspended the contract. Sponsors continue to fund the expensive life-support (just as well it's cheaper on the subcontinent) out of an awkward sense of responsibility. It's a melancholy affair. Admirers extoll the achievements of the nearly-departed. Those wishing to get on with it are anxious not to appear anxious to get on with it. Nobody, least of all immediate relatives still receiving royalties from high-profile sponsors, seems willing to sign the release. Anything else would seem a lot less deserving for a (once) elite sportsman. -- Clevinger was dead. That was the basic flaw in his philosophy. [Joseph Heller; Catch-22] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 08:23:54 -0500 From: "Dave Gudewicz" Subject: Re: Martin Fink Webcast Message-ID: "David J Dachtera" wrote in message news:4722AFBE.A92777F@spam.comcast.net... > As I was unable to participate in the webcast due to family issues, I'm > hoping > there will be a transcript/recording/download/etc. of it available at some > point. > > I think its fair to say that the question I posed - as I posed it - was > not > addressed: > > 1. OpenVMS, HP Business Continuity > > HP recently went around to the major OpenVMS ISVs (Cerner, MiSys (aka > Sunquest), > and others) and promoted UX instead of OpenVMS on Itanium causing a > large-scale > abandonment of both OpenVMS and HP in favor of IBM and AIX. We know this > because > our vendors told us this is what happened and our colleagues at other > sites tell > us that this is how their management have responded to the word from the > vendors. Please explain HP's thinking in this action, and what, if > anything, HP > is doing to stem this tide, if not reverse it. > > -- Answers to the questions sent to Martin Fink can be viewed at: https://www.encompassus.org/community/sigs/FinkQuestionsAnswers.doc ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 15:06:43 GMT From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Jan-Erik_S=F6derholm?= Subject: Re: Martin Fink Webcast Message-ID: <7uIUi.12361$ZA.8047@newsb.telia.net> Dave Gudewicz wrote: > > Answers to the questions sent to Martin Fink can be viewed at: > > https://www.encompassus.org/community/sigs/FinkQuestionsAnswers.doc And for those thet prefer PDF before MS-Word, I've made a PDF version that can be found here : http://www.jescab.se/upload/FinkQuestionsAnswers.pdf Regards, Jan-Erik. ------------------------------ End of INFO-VAX 2007.588 ************************