Jeff Kell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Gavin Scott wrote:
> > From what I remember about VMS, their file system looks quite a lot
> > more like MPE's than any Unix-like system (including Windows).  They
> > actually understand the concept that a file is not always "just a
> > bunch of bytes".
>
> They also had ARPA services back in the 80s, but I think they were at
> least initially 3rd party (Wollongong and JaNet come to mind, if Frank
> McConnell is still lurking he can probably elaborate).

More than you want to know, most likely.  But yes, several third
parties had TCP/IP software for VMS in the 1980s: Gould (who really
didn't want to sell and support theirs, thus yielding the then-small
market to others), Carnegie-Mellon University, NRC (can't remember
what the initials stood for, but they had the Fusion product, and yes
the company did evolve into Pacific Softworks), Wollongong, Excelan,
TGV, and Process Software.  By 1988, DEC also had their UCX ("Ultrix
Connection" or something like that -- it really was sold as a sort of
connectivity-to-Ultrix thing) TCP/IP add-on; but they had an OSI story
with DECnet Phase V and they were sticking to that.

However, I think that TCP/IP for OpenVMS is *still* an add-on.
Process Software is still in the business, selling the TGV Multinet
product as well as their own TCPWare.  You can still get CMU's for
free off the 'net, but it is VAX-only and does not run on Alpha
systems.  Compaq probably still offer UCX, although I think it has a
different name ("TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS" comes to mind).

JANET was BITNET software for VMS, wasn't it?

Anyway, yes, OpenVMS has a file system that understands that files can
have quite a bit more structure than a stream.  I am by no means an
expert on it and would just as soon stay that way.

-Frank McConnell

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