.PAGE SIZE 58, 85 .NONUMBER .LEFT MARGIN 10 .RIGHT MARGIN 75 .NO FILL .NO JUSTIFY # .SKIP 5 .CENTER The RSX Multi-Tasker .SKIP .CENTER December, 1988 .SKIP .CENTER "In hoc signo foobar" .SKIP .CENTER Fine Realtime Commentary Since 1975 .SKIP 6 .CENTER ^&Table of Contents\& .SKIP 2 .TAB STOPS 65 Food for Thought RSX-1 The Editor's Corner RSX-1 My Visit to the Local Office RSX- Submitting Articles to the Multi-Tasker RSX- And That's The Way Things Are RSX- Bulletin Board Notes RSX- .JUSTIFY .FILL .SKIP 14 .LM +5 .RM -5 Opinions expressed in the editorial section of the Multi-Tasker are those of the Editor. They do not represent the official position of the RSX SIG nor that of DECUS leadership in general. .LM -5 .RM +5 .PAGE .COMMENT .COMMENT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ .COMMENT Food for Thought .COMMENT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ .COMMENT # .SKIP 7 .AUTOPARAGRAPH .CENTER Food for Thought .SKIP "Tandy personal computers being marketed by Digital? Interesting idea. But why not MicroVAXes at Radio Shackses?" .SKIP 2 .INDENT 30 - Justin L.#Hewser .COMMENT .COMMENT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ .COMMENT The Editor's Corner .COMMENT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ .COMMENT .SKIP 9 .CENTER The Editor's Corner .SKIP .CENTER Bruce R. Mitchell .SKIP It's been a while since anyone on the user side of the community has done anything ^&really\& new, exciting and original with RSX. This month I'm pleased to be able to say that there is indeed something new, exciting and original, and it doesn't come from DEC. I will go no farther here than to say that you ^&must\& read Chuck Perrin's article in this issue. Chuck gets the Editor's platinum star for ingenuity. Over the next few months, the editorial responsibility for ^&The Multi-Tasker\& will be turned over to new blood. It's been good having the editorship for the last two years, but things are starting to slip; and when that happens, it's best to bow out and let the young Turks have at it. Your new co-editors will be introduced in the next issue. It is a sad occasion for me, but I took over the editorship so that we could turn out a consistent and high quality product. Now I turn over editorship so that standard can be maintained. I'll still be stopping in occasionally to comment on the state of things, so don't worry about the monthly editorials. Or, in some cases, do worry. The Fall Symposium is now over, and it appears that DEC may indeed be supporting RSX DECnet into Phase V. The support would be limited, as an end-node, but would at least be there. Rumors indicate that this change of heart came after a user asked "why not on RSX, if on MS-DOS?"## A good question, and hopefully the answer will be "On both." Something seems to be boiling in the pot out in the Spit Brook woods, something that involves a hypothetical ultra-high-speed PDP-11. Most interesting is that the hypothetical product does not seem to run on either Unibus or Q-bus. Backing several DEC developers into corners and alternately plying them with strong drink and applying thumbscrews produced nothing but big silly grins and "We can't talk about anything, but keep the drinks coming."## More on this as news and rumors arrive. Boy, it's getting cold out here in the upper Midwest. The first snow of the season arrived today - 23 October. It's so cold that I think I may just light a little flame to keep things warm. .TEST PAGE 5 .SKIP 2 .CENTER ----- My Visit to the Digital Local Office ----- .SKIP 2 Recently the old M/T editor needed some DEC documentation in a hurry. Tooling out to the local office, he expected to be greeted by DEC comrades as of old. Such a surprise! Digital's new local office is a lot bigger than the old one. After bumbling around awhile, I found the reception area. I got lost because in the old building there were signs and the reception area door was always open. The new reception area is nicely carpeted and sparsely appointed in Impersonal Modern. But I think I liked the old one better, where people wandered through all the time, you could peek into the computer room, coffee was always on, and the receptionist sat at a desk. In the new office, nobody wanders through. The receptionist sits behind a barrier. You put your hands up on, and peer over, this wall to hold a conversation. "I need documentation for the KWV11-C realtime clock card", says I. "Who's your sales rep?" was the reply. "I don't want to buy anything today, I just want documentation."## "You have to talk to your sales rep", says the automaton. "I'm consulting for ", says I. "Let me see if your rep is in today. No, I'm sorry. Can you call back later?" 'Whoa', says I to myself. 'I'm spending $50 an hour of 's time to be here, and I can only talk to their sales rep? Come back later? What happened to the receptionist? Who is this great stone face?' "Look", says I, "^&I\& don't care who I talk to; all I want is this documentation. My work is blocked without it."## Response: "Let me see if anyone is free to talk with you now." Eventually: "You can talk to ", says the living DECtalk. 'Ah, a genuine live person', I think. So sorry - "You can use the lobby phone over there." Wait a minute. Isn't someone going to come out to say hello and feed me coffee? Where's my friends who used to tell me how the fishing was up north, and then lie about the big one they claimed to have caught, as it is universally known that DEC sales people can't catch fish for love nor money? Well, no. No coffee. And no fish lies. Eventually, "Here's your documentation", and $EOJ, EXST$ _#EX$WAR. There ^&was\& a time - not so long ago - when a user appearing at the local office was considered an Important Event. Someone greeted you personally and took you back where what you wanted was found. If you weren't in a hurry, whoever was escorting you fed you coffee and whatever happened to be left over from the breakfast donuts. After asking how everything was at your site and whether the system was running smoothly, you were invited to rummage through the documentation room and see if there was anything that looked interesting. But no matter whether you were in a hurry or no, there was a little ceremony when you left. You were given a real person's business card, a warm handshake, and the admonition, "It's good to see you. Stop in and see us more often. And call me if you need anything." And - most important to Digital - you left with something more than what you came for. You were pretty sure that if you walked into Big Blue or the BUNCH's offices, you wouldn't be treated as well as you were at DEC. You left feeling pleased about your good friends at Digital Equipment Corporation. .SKIP 2 DEC gave me a nice keychain at a symposium several years ago. It's a little bronze plaque, with these words in relief: "Every user of DIGITAL computers is a V.I.P." It doesn't say, "Every DIGITAL customer who buys $10 million of product a year from us is a V.I.P." It doesn't even say, "Every DIGITAL customer is a V.I.P." It ^&does\& say, "Every user". I thought that meant, "Everyone from the student using Rainbow BASIC to the bank with a multi-million dollar VAX cluster is a customer of our products, and so we must accordingly treat them not only as valued customers, but as important ^&people\&. For they are." I guess I was wrong. .TEST PAGE 5 .SKIP 2 .CENTER ----- Submitting Articles to the Multi-Tasker ----- Please submit machine readable media. Any kind. It can be converted if we don't have it on site. All RSX volume formats are acceptable. You can also submit articles through the RSX bulletin board system at (612) 777-7664. The Editor loves you if you do so. Kermit the file in and send it via MAIL to username MULTITASKER. Submissions which aren't machine readable may take longer to get into print. If you format your submission in RUNOFF, please set page size 58,80; left margin 10; right margin 75; and, when changing margins, use incremental changes rather than absolute. The editor thanks you for the consideration. Send your articles and other submissions to the luxurious Multi-Tasker offices, from whence they will be forwarded to the new co-Editors: .SKIP .NO FILL .NO JUSTIFY Bruce R. Mitchell Machine Intelligence and Industrial Magic RR _#1, Box 216 Fountain City, WI###54629 .JUSTIFY .FILL .TEST PAGE 5 .SKIP 2 .CENTER ----- And That's The Way Things Are ----- _... this month in Pool Lowbegone, where the need for real-time is ever strong, all the people in the RSX SIG are handsome, and the RSX SIG taken as a whole is above average. Thanks for your support. It's been a good two years. .SKIP .INDENT 35 Bruce R. Mitchell .INDENT 35 Multi-Tasker Editor V, 1986-1988 .COMMENT .COMMENT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ .COMMENT Bulletin Board Notes .COMMENT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ .COMMENT .TEST PAGE 15 .SKIP 4 .CENTER Bulletin Board Notes .SKIP A recent donation of equipment from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M) resulted in acquisition of a CDC 9762 and Emulex controller for same, as well as a Unibus time-of-year clock. These will make support of the BBS much easier, and result in better service to the users. Software availability: RSX MAIL, Kermit, old issues of The Multi-Tasker and various other items. Free advice from everybody who logs in too. The BBS now supports the following media: Paper tape, TU58, RX01/2, RK05, RL01, RK07 and RM02/3. Not too shabby. We could still use an RL02 if anybody has one to give. And the system still needs hardware. Anything. Send us your old dead junk if nothing else. Pack up all that stuff in the spares cabinet and ship it off to the BBS management c/o your friendly Multi-Tasker editor at the address above. The BBS number: 1-612-SPR-PONG / 1-612-777-7664. This line is autobaud 110 - 1200 baud. To request an account, log in with account name ACCOUNT, password REQUEST.