Using different computers

  To my experience all computers are equally stupid on the average. However, every computer has its specific advantages and disadvantages so it can make sense to use a variety of systems:

• VAX/VMS computers are in widespread use by tradition,
• the new UNIX-based systems offer a fast, relatively cheap and standardized way of computing,
• while the old-fashioned MVS-based mainframes still are fast and strong concerning their ability to handle large amounts of data.

Moreover, in an international collaboration like you will find practically all systems sold on the market. To make everyday work and interchange of data and programs as easy as possible I give some recommendations concerning filenames:

• Don't use special characters in filenames:
  • MVS doesn't accept the underscore character (_), but allows @, #, $.
  • VMS doesn't accept the # and dislikes the @, but allows _ and $.
  • UNIX doesn't accept the $ (may be bypassed by $) and dislikes the # and @ (trouble in makefiles).
• If you have to be VMS-compatible don't use file names with more than one extension.
• If you have to be MVS-compatible don't use file names longer than 44 characters and name parts between dots longer than 8 characters and starting with a number.

• Using VMS
  • Using PAW on VMS
  • Accessing mass data under VMS
• Using MVS
  • MVS logon from different computers
  • MVS File System
  • PAW Graphics under MVS
  • Running PAW under MVS
  • Accessing mass data under MVS
  • Printing under MVS
• Using UNIX
  • Using and Customizing AIX
  • Using and Customizing ULTRIX
  • Using UNIX Workstations as Terminals
  • Using PAW under UNIX
  • Accessing mass data under UNIX
  • Printing under UNIX