Ken,

In reference to:   http://www.editcorp.com/wsj/kens-ad-1.html

My major guiding principle for communicating about difficult issues is
to structure the message so that 'the other guy' can make up his own
mind as a free and informed choice.    (I get this from Prof. Chris
Argris of Harvard who is considered one of the top men in the field.)
A informed choice requires, obviously, information - specifically
valid information that others can verify for themselves.

I bring up valid information because I believe that statements to the
effect that MPE is the best operating system doesn't pass muster.
If anyone else claimed that their favorite operating system or
programming language was the "best" we would surly counter with
questions like:
  o best for what purpose or use?
  o best by what criteria?
  o How is that measured?
  o What evidence do you have for your claims?

Claims to unqualified greatness frankly "gets my back up".

If we make such a statement we must stand ready to answer such
questions but I don't see how we can in one ad.   Also claims to
unqualified greatness activates my defenses.   It is wise to be
minimally objectionable unless the message is worth the initial upset
and defensiveness that the message would predictably invoke.
IMO the claim to be "the best" opens up a real "snake pit" with more
downside than upside.

Furthermore, the bald claim, without extensive supporting
documentation, that MPE is the best looses credibility with me -- and
I'm a 3k "bigot"!   That thought applies more so to the Image DBMS
which has, in my opinion, some noteworthy shortcomings.

There are many good things to be said about MPE/iX but the statement
that MPE/iX is flat out THE best OS should not be allowed to stand.

We can avoid a lot of the difficulty if, for instance, we say that MPE
is reliable, stable, open, and relatively easy to use.    In this way
we make public our criteria of "goodness" and each claim can be fairly
quickly supported to a first approximation.

With gratitude for your excellent contributions to MPE and the 3000L
- Cortlandt