In article <kbks0l$96j$
1...@dont-email.me>, Stephen Hoffman
<seao...@hoffmanlabs.invalid> writes:
> >>> Good suggestion, and actually what I've done, but I would still like to
> >>> understand this strange reversal.
> >>
> >> How about "who cares, that's just the way it works?" Would that help?
> >
> > I specify the names explicitly in MODPARAMS.DAT and they are reversed in
> > AGEN$FEEDBACK.DAT, but only for page, not swap files. I wouldn't call
> > that "works". Perhaps there is a bug in the version of VMS I have, thus
> > my query here.
>
> Chainsaw out all that stuff and replace it with one file. Or a few
> same-sized files on separate (non-system-disk) spindles. Or more
> memory. Or a combination.
>
> And FWIW, it's quite possible to run OpenVMS with no page file.
Again, the swap and page files are there for historical reasons. I
probably don't need them now. I might get rid of them. I am
reorganizing my hardware now anyway. However, I like to understand
things.
> If you're interested in seeing what AUTOGEN is up to, the DCL is available.
Yes, I can try to find out where this is coming from. OK.
Let me phrase this another way: Does anyone else see hard-coded names
for page files reversed in AGEN$FEEDBACK.DAT? Does anyone else think
that this is the way it should work and is not some sort of bug? Has it
always been that way? Certainly the docs don't mention this "feature".
Retrocomputing? No. I even switched off my VAXen a while back. Do I
have the latest, greatest(?) stuff? No. But then again, I listen to
60s and 70s rock music and not Justin Bieber. And Bach instead of John
Cage. I don't mind being retro when I consider some of the alternatives
though, again, in computing that is not my goal. VMS is best for what I
use it for at home, and I enjoy working with it, though most of the time
it is a means to an end for other stuff. With reasonably fast (for my
needs) hardware available for free, why spend money on the latest stuff
from southeast Asia? What are the alternatives? Windows and worry
about viruses? Apple or Google and find files replaced with censored
versions which don't offend the Daughters of the American Revolution?
Gnu/Linux and use the stuff promoted by the guy who said it is a crime
against humanity (his words, really---check them out; some of this Gnu
philosophy would be funny if it weren't meant seriously) to sell
software without source code? Some other niche product which I would
have to spend time learning when VMS meets my needs? New skills? I
have a VMS day job, which should keep me going for a few years. Would I
be competitive in some other aspect of computing compared to all the
young dudes? No. Why waste time trying? I can hopefully run VMS at
home for as long as I need to. If it's no longer possible, and even if
the day job caves in, I don't have to work in computing. I've worked in
a slaughterhouse, as a lorry driver, as a pizza deliverer, in a garden
shop, on an assembly line, as a scientist, as a translator, as a
teacher. There are other things I would enjoy doing and be able to do
if I can't earn my living doing computing. Maybe at some point I can
retire and won't even have to earn my living. In the meantime, I enjoy
VMS and DEC hardware. This also has something to do with respect for
people who created a good product. When I switched off my VAXes, some
had been running continuously for 20 years, and were running the newest
VMS version; an executable from 20 years before would still run though.
Do that with the latest Windows/Intel box. Quality. Like in the VAX at
20 book where "quality is not a goal; it is a given". There is nothing
wrong remembering the good old days if they were actually better than
the present. Yes, other things have changed but there is no need to
avoid eclecticism; one can have the best of the past and the best of the
present. One doesn't have to bow down to trends. One can actually try
to understand things. I've been in comp.os.vms for 20 years or so and
have learned a lot and have actually helped a few people, be it
answering questions which I had learned the answers to from other people
and/or by doing or reminding people who had been unjustly flamed by Carl
Lydick that life is still worth living. I've met a few people from here
"offline" and they were nice folks. I like it here. :-)