Shaken Angel ([log in to unmask]) wrote:
> I think a large part of the difficulty of porting/creating a free VMS is
> that a great deal of VMS is written in processor-specific assembly
> language, whereas UNIX is in C and therefore comparably easy to move to new
> machines.
 
        Something tells me this is a minor problem, if at all.  Linux was
written from scratch in C, and since no AT&T code was used, the fact that
UNIX was also written in C really doesn't mean anything.  Methinks the
problem is only one company has a VMS (Digital, obviously) and the smaller
user base means less people who really know it inside & out.  Which leads to
less people willing to work on a free clone.
 
        I've never heard the security argument for VMS before.  The one I've
most often heard is that VMS is, simply put, *rock* solid.  If you want
hackability and portability and all of the things that go with UNIX, that's
what you use.  If you have a system that simple *cannot* go down or heads
will roll, you use VMS.
 
--
Steve Madsen  <[log in to unmask]>
Network Support Specialist
School of Applied Science, Miami University