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Date:      Tue, 15 Feb 2000 21:06:18 -0500 (EST)
From:      Bill Pechter <pechter@pechter.dyndns.org>
To:        freebsd-chat@freebsd.org
Subject:   KL's and SMP
Message-ID:  <200002160206.VAA49683@bg-tc-ppp757.monmouth.com>

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> Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 00:28:50 -0600 (CST)
> From: David Scheidt <dscheidt@enteract.com>
> Subject: Re: Why I Don't Do Linux
> 
> On Mon, 14 Feb 2000, Brett Glass wrote:
> 
> > As I recall, TOPS-20 emulated both TOPS-10 and TENEX/TWENEX.
> 
> It ran user-mode TOPS-10 programs through a system call translator, not
> unlike what FreeBSD does for Linux support.  TOPS-10 had some features that
> made is superior to TOPS-20, like better SMP support.  
> 

Part of what made my PDP and Vax life interesting in my DEC days is
hanging around with the KL service group getting to see the Johnson and
Johnson Tri-SMP KL setup down near Milltown, NJ.

Slick stuff for 1984 or so.  Fairly reasonably sized for "big iron"
compaired with IBM mainframes.  They handled a nice interactive load and
were about the easiest machines I've ever seen to get a new user 
comfortable on.  Kermit (and to a lesser extent tcsh) lifted a lot from
the command processor.

If we can ever make FreeBSD as easy to use and maintain we'd have come a
long way... especially with new users.  You could use advise and other
assists to help walk a new user through stuff and command completion and
online help was great.  

(I was looking for an example of how it works -- but the accelr8 dcl
for Linux now coredumps under 4.0-CURRENT -- so I'll have to wait until
I finish rebuilding the Vax for further examples).

Of course I still preferred DCL and EDT (much to the KL guy's scorn) to
the Tops10/Tops20 equivalent interface and EDI and SOS editors.(ugh...)
I also found the DEC VAX/VMS help the best in the business for walking
new admins and operators through tasks.  Blows the door off man pages.

Three KL's handling scads of users.  They've gone IBM since with 
mainframes, HP-UX boxes, some Vaxes are left (on the way out), some AS/400's,
and some RS6000's...  It varies by company division as does who does the
admin and maintenance.

Bill

bpechter@monmouth.com      |     Microsoft: Where do you want to go today?
                           |     Linux:     Where do you want to go tomorrow?
                           |     BSD:       Are you guys coming, or what?


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