1 INFO-VAX	Sun, 21 Nov 2004	Volume 2004 : Issue 647       Contents: Re: DECW$CLOCK design flaw ! Re: DHCP Client startup  DXmDisplayVmsMessage question  I found this great little site. P Re: interesting take on Olsen's "no reason for any individual to have a computer& Programatically accessing HELP/MESSAGE1 RE: reporter inquiry: Is HP selling AlphaServers? 1 Re: reporter inquiry: Is HP selling AlphaServers? 1 RE: reporter inquiry: Is HP selling AlphaServers? 1 Re: reporter inquiry: Is HP selling AlphaServers? & Testing if file is openable read/write  F ----------------------------------------------------------------------  + Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 14:45:35 +0000 (UTC)  From: david20@alpha2.mdx.ac.uk% Subject: Re: DECW$CLOCK design flaw ! ) Message-ID: <cnq9mf$ih8$1@news.mdx.ac.uk>   N In article <opshrqtciyzgicya@hyrrokkin>, "Tom Linden" <tom@kednos.com> writes:/ >On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 23:11:17 -0500, JF Mezei   & ><jfmezei.spamnot@teksavvy.com> wrote: >  >> "Alan E. Feldman" wrote: H >>> Despite the very surprising spookiness of certain aspects of quantumE >>> mechanics, I find the possibility of going backwards in time very 
 >>> unlikely.  >>K >> It used to be that people tough that you'd die if you exceeded 100mph.    >> Then M >> came steam locomotives who broke that barrier and nothing happened. Then    >> came L >> the time when people though you'd disintegrate when you broke the speed   >> of J >> sound. We broke it and people didn't disintegrate. There are 2 people   >> going at K >> 25 times the speed of sound right now at this very minute in the space    >> station.  >>L >> Physical movement at some extreme speed may accelerate time relative to   >> youI >> (but your watch would still tick forward normally). But if it is the   
 >> type ofM >> thing where it never quite gets to 0, then no matter how fast you go, it    >> won't >> go negative.  >>K >> But that does not preclude traveling to the past with some other type of G >> "transport" that doesn't involve traveling way above speed of light.   O The Godel solution and other potential solutions don't require you to travel at O any great speed at all just to have particular conditions for the universe as a M whole or for the local distributions of matter to enable the required warping  of space-time.   >>L >> Consider this: if you were to travel at such a high speed that time wouldL >> actually stop, upon slowing down you'd end up at some infinite point in   >> time K >> (ahead). Sort of like a division by 0 thing. So whatever theory exists    >> rightL >> now probably is incapable of handling such concepts, just like division   >> is & >> unable of handling a division by 0. >   J The theories we currently have cannot be the final real description of theE Universe since GR and quantum theory cannot be successfully combined. L However at the moment both General and Special relativity would preclude anyO physical object actually reaching the speed of light "where time would actually  stop".    : >You would need to revise the second law of Thermodynamics  M I'm not sure what relevance the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics has to Time travel.   7 The standard statements of the 2nd Law are those due to    Kelvin   " H There is no thermodynamic process whose sole effect is to transform heatD extracted from a source at uniform temperature completely into work. "    and    Clausius   " O There is no thermodynamic process whose sole effect is to extract a quantity of B heat from a colder reservoir and deliver it to a hotter reservoir. "   O I'd assume you probably meant the derived quantity entropy which can be defined  as   " M For a closed system, the quantitative measure of the amount of thermal energy  not available to do work."    , with which the second law can be restated as  0 "Entropy in a closed system can never decrease."    N Unfortunately entropy is a much misused term (rather like VMS clustering) with  at least two other popular uses.  N One is Boltzmann's statistical entropy which deals with the number of possibleN states a system may evolve into. There are more disordered states than orderedL states for an ordered system to evolve into hence it is highly probable thatI a system will evolve from an ordered to a disordered state. This is often J asserted as a reason for the direction of the arrow of time - however thisG argument has problems since there are also more disordered states than  C ordered states which could give rise to the original ordered state.     ; Secondly there is the use of Entropy in information theory.   H The story is often told that in the late 1940s, John von Neumann advisedM communication-theorist Claude E. Shannon to start using the term entropy when  discussing information becauseI "no one knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have  the advantage".   P Whether these are really all talking about exactly the same thing is subject to  debate.       
 David Webb Security team leader CCSS Middlesex University       >  >-- D >Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/   ------------------------------  + Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 11:21:03 +0000 (UTC) 6 From: peter@langstoeger.at (Peter 'EPLAN' LANGSTOEGER)  Subject: Re: DHCP Client startup0 Message-ID: <newscache$n60j7i$qwe$1@news.sil.at>  U In article <iOQnd.9191$l65.6120@clgrps13>, Alder <PGDEHMKOKIMD@spammotel.com> writes: J >I recently added a Linux box to my home LAN to serve as the firewall and G >DHCP server for 2 Windows PCs and my AlphaServer.  Before making this  E >change, I had my VMS box (V7.3, TCPIP 5.4) configured with a static  J >non-routable IP address and accessed the Internet through one of the PCs 
 >running ICS.   ? Wow. Begging for problems. I'm happy that you changed this now.   < btw. OpenVMS Alpha V7.3-2 (with V8.2 in external field test); and TCPIP V5.4 ECO 2 (with ECO4 coming RSN) is current now.   E >After the change, I tried using the TCPIP DHCP Client, changing the  I >default configuration only by adding a HOSTNAME. file and inserting the  ; >"request subnet_mask" line to the default CLIENT.PCY file:   L With TCPIP ECOs, this well known bug of V5.4 should have already been fixed. But ok, you got it correct now.   I >If I merely restart TCPIP, the DHCP Client seems to run perfectly well,  3 >but during reboots, the following messages appear:   N You could turn on debugging with defining the TCPIP$DHCP_DEBUG logical (eg. 5)  @ >%TCPIP-I-DHCPC_STRD_CLNT, DHCP client started with PID 000000A1< >%TCPIP-I-DHCPINTER, interface WE0 configured by DHCP clientC >-TCPIP-I-INTERIGNORED, interface configuration information ignored   I So it seems that you haven't deleted all config info from this interface. C Delete the (interface) config and start with a fresh configuration.   ( >$ TCPIP SHOW CONFIGURATION NAME_SERVICE >  >BIND Resolver Configuration >  >   Transport:  UDP ! >   Domain:     EREBUS.HOMEIP.NET  >   Retry:         4 >   Timeout:       4 >   Servers:    192.168.0.1 ! >   Path:       No values defined   M seems ok. But HOMEIP.NET is a public DDNS domain with EREBUS assigned to you. J How do you structure your internal domain ? Is it a subdomain of EREBUS or, another private domain or no domain at all ?  8 And does 192.168.0.1 already have a nameserver running ?C And does it provide the internal (RFC1918 192.168.x.x) IP addresses + or does it only relaying to the ISP's one ?   I >And here is how my BIND service is actually configured after the reboot:  >  >$ TCPIP SHOW NAME_SERVICE >  >BIND Resolver Parameters  >  >  Local domain: * Mismatch *   G So, you have old static configuration (probably in TCPIP SET CONF COMM) M which doesn't match dynamic DHCP info. Better start with a fresh installation 3 if you are unsure what to change and where to look.   	 >  System  >   >   State:     Started, Disabled >  >   Transport: UDP >   Domain:  >   Retry:     4 >   Timeout:   4 >   Servers:    SMOOTHWALL! >   Path:       No values defined  >  ...  : Where is the name SMOOTHWALL from ? Local Hosts Database ?E Mixing fixed and dynamic configuration is sometimes required but also  begging for problems.   I >Can someone help me understand what I have missed about setting up DHCP?    Is this enough ?   --   Peter "EPLAN" LANGSTOEGER % Network and OpenVMS system specialist  E-mail  peter@langstoeger.atF A-1030 VIENNA  AUSTRIA              I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist   ------------------------------  % Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 07:11:11 -0500 - From: JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@teksavvy.com> & Subject: DXmDisplayVmsMessage question, Message-ID: <41A085B9.F6D31092@teksavvy.com>  L There is a decwindows specific widget called DXmDisplayVmsMessage which is aN popup dialogue equivalent of SYS$PUTMSG where you suppy a binary erroir status and it does the rest.   L Problem is that when you git it a title such as "My error message", it comes up as  	"My error message_POPUP"   N Is there a trick to avoid the _POPUP from being appended to the window title ?  M BTW, the documentation uses DXmDisplayVMSMessage, but the defined routine for  the C headers is   DXmDisplayVmsMessage.   K Also, the dialogu'.es size is based on the error message itself, but if the U error message is shorter than the window title, part of the window title is occluded.    ------------------------------  # Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 11:34:33 GMT ; From: lisawill4u@yahoo.com(I found this great little site.) ( Subject: I found this great little site.6 Message-ID: <04112106343453954@news-server.cfl.rr.com>   <html>   <head>9 <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0"> 8 <meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">J <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">- <title>I found this great little site</title>  </head>    <body>  N <p>I found this great little site. I signed up two weeks ago and got 2 Disney F tickets and this week they are sending me 2 Universal Studios tickets.N <a href="http://66.219.102.40">Here's the link </a>and by the way I am a real O person, this is my real email address. I'm not a spammer and didn't appreciate  > the nasty email I got last time I tried to post this link.<br> Thanks, Lisa</p>   </body>    </html>    ------------------------------  # Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:29:26 GMT # From: nospam@nouce.bellatlantic.net Y Subject: Re: interesting take on Olsen's "no reason for any individual to have a computer 8 Message-ID: <hqb1q0hv4s05bhr4vij71rn5s8qbsc4jah@4ax.com>  2 On Sat, 20 Nov 2004 14:04:19 -0800, "Jack Peacock" <peacock@simconv.com> wrote:   >>N >The late '75 IMSAI design could run the Shugart ST506 when it came out, with M >a nice choice of compatible controllers.  I bought my first ST506 subsystem  I >came about $1500 with drive, cabinet and controller.  At the time I had  N >about another $1000 invested in the IMSAI.  It was also upgradable as larger B >MFM drives came out, until it maxed out at about 120MB per drive.   Jack,   F The '75 imsai in 75 had a cassette recorder audio interface, no floppyE even.  By 1977 floppys with a S100 controller board were 500$ for one D drive and that was for the Northstar which was the cheapest and onlyB 90K bytes of storage.  In 1978 the Morrow Discis 8" hard drive wasC around 3800$ and BIG.   The S100 (IMSAI was part of this) world was E still running floppies mostly in 1982 as a ST506 and controller while C available was minimally 1000$ and required some skills to integrate F and was more costly if integrated for you.  I might add that in 1982 aD fully decked out S100 crate (Z80, 64k ram, 1Floppy and 5m hard driveB and a terminal) would set the user out about 2900-3500$ and the PC+ basic(no hard drive) was nearly the same.     F BUT, there was nothing to run untill Killer apps like word processing,@ spreadsheets and databases started to appear.  The OS world was D still evolving but CP/M and Appledos were the leaders and by modern F  were very crude.   DEvelopment tools and languages were also startingF to become available.  So it was about mid to late 1979 before personalB computers appeared to be a business tool to more than the few thatD could assemble, troubleshoot and write software.  IBM and the PC wasD nearly two years later and even then there was NO Hard drive offered" initially and the RAM was small.    @ For those comments to mean anything you have to view the window E of 1975 to 1985 far more closely as things changed radically and what ; made sense in 1976 and was still valid in 1979 would become F meaningless by 1983.  Beware of simplifications and generalizations ofD market, it's solidity and even options available.   There were a lot@ of products from many companies launched and most failed the fewA that were even a near miss are now part of this discussion as the D failures are literally rare finds.   The early world of the personalF computer was literally a wobbly world with most people trying a little0 of everything and only a few standards existant.   Allison    ------------------------------  % Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 07:25:10 -0500 - From: JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@teksavvy.com> / Subject: Programatically accessing HELP/MESSAGE , Message-ID: <41A088FF.23708DF5@teksavvy.com>  L Is there a documented access to the error messge text such as is provided by HELP/MESSAGE ?  I It seems to access an indexed file (SYS$HELP:MSGHLP$LIBRARY.MSGHLP$DATA).   I But there is also a TCPIP file with same extension. Does the HELP/MESSAGE < application have the smarts to look though all those files ?   ------------------------------  + Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 08:46:40 +0000 (UTC) P From: helbig@astro.multiCLOTHESvax.de (Phillip Helbig---remove CLOTHES to reply): Subject: RE: reporter inquiry: Is HP selling AlphaServers?$ Message-ID: <cnpklg$omc$1@online.de>  
 In articleG <FD827B33AB0D9C4E92EACEEFEE2BA2FB4A4A11@tayexc19.americas.cpqcorp.net>, * "Main, Kerry" <kerry.main@hp.com> writes:   J > Bottom line is that there is a lot more going on with regards to OpenVMS/ > than just what is discussed in the newsgroup.   G While I agree that HP could do more to a) win new customers (and it IS  F strange that a BUSINESS doesn't seem to want to do this, thus fueling F the conspiracy theories and hidden-agenda buffs) and b) re-assure old A ones, in general I have to agree with Kerry.  Certainly from the  I perspective of academia, which DEC/Compaq/HP almost completely lost (see  F below), there is reason to be very sad, and this might hurt HP in the I long term (even though one doesn't NEED as many VMS experts as for other  G operating systems, one needs SOME).  In the rest of the world, though,  E things seem to be different in many, many areas.  We've been hearing  I about the demise of VMS since the Palmer days 10 years ago.  10 years is  I a HUGE time in the computing business.  What HAS practically disappeared  H in that time?  Commercial unix for one (often touted as the platform to - move to, even by DEC salesmen in some cases).   I As for academia, I once saw a presentation at a DECUS meeting with a map  H of the world showing dots for all "universities which had signed up for G the new academic license".  In one case I know about, that represented  G one guy who got the license so he could return to VMS after many years  E on some machines which otherwise would have gone to the scrap heap.   C Back in the good old days, every student at this university had an   account on VMS.    ------------------------------  % Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 05:05:38 -0500 - From: JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@teksavvy.com> : Subject: Re: reporter inquiry: Is HP selling AlphaServers?, Message-ID: <41A06854.F4BB791A@teksavvy.com>  / Phillip Helbig---remove CLOTHES to reply wrote: J > a HUGE time in the computing business.  What HAS practically disappeared > in that time?   D Digital used to the THE leader in email. It used to be the leader in9 networking. Palmer sabotaged all of the email leadership.   N Business applications used to come to VMS well before coming to Unix. Now, VMS- is just a niche with a few applications left.   L Digital used to have a HUGE portfolio of its own applications on VMS. DuringP the palmer era, the vast majority was abandonned or sold (and later abandonned).  K DEC hasn't upgraded DECwindows in about 10 years, and is still at 1.2 (with M Alpha at 1.5) while the rest of the world is at 2.3 (with lots of new widgets  available under 2.*)   ------------------------------  % Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 10:35:41 -0500 ' From: "Main, Kerry" <kerry.main@hp.com> : Subject: RE: reporter inquiry: Is HP selling AlphaServers?R Message-ID: <FD827B33AB0D9C4E92EACEEFEE2BA2FB4A4A21@tayexc19.americas.cpqcorp.net>   > -----Original Message-----9 > From: JF Mezei [mailto:jfmezei.spamnot@teksavvy.com]=20 ! > Sent: November 21, 2004 5:06 AM  > To: Info-VAX@Mvb.Saic.Com < > Subject: Re: reporter inquiry: Is HP selling AlphaServers? >=20  	 [snip ..]   = > DEC hasn't upgraded DECwindows in about 10 years, and is=20  > still at 1.2 (with> > Alpha at 1.5) while the rest of the world is at 2.3 (with=20 > lots of new widgets  > available under 2.*) >=20   JF,=20  2 Are you saying you want DEC to upgrade DECwindows?  G If so, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this will likely take a 
 long time ...    :-) :-)    Regards   
 Kerry Main Senior Consultant  HP Services Canada Voice: 613-592-4660  Fax: 613-591-4477  kerryDOTmainAThpDOTcom (remove the DOT's and AT)=20  $ "OpenVMS has always had integrity .. Now, Integrity has OpenVMS .."   ------------------------------   Date: 21 Nov 2004 18:10:19 GMT, From: bill@gw5.cs.uofs.edu (Bill Gunshannon): Subject: Re: reporter inquiry: Is HP selling AlphaServers?+ Message-ID: <30c40bF2spq23U1@uni-berlin.de>   R In article <FD827B33AB0D9C4E92EACEEFEE2BA2FB4A4A21@tayexc19.americas.cpqcorp.net>,* 	"Main, Kerry" <kerry.main@hp.com> writes: >  >> -----Original Message----- : >> From: JF Mezei [mailto:jfmezei.spamnot@teksavvy.com]=20" >> Sent: November 21, 2004 5:06 AM >> To: Info-VAX@Mvb.Saic.Com= >> Subject: Re: reporter inquiry: Is HP selling AlphaServers?  >>=20  >  > [snip ..]  > > >> DEC hasn't upgraded DECwindows in about 10 years, and is=20 >> still at 1.2 (with ? >> Alpha at 1.5) while the rest of the world is at 2.3 (with=20  >> lots of new widgets >> available under 2.*)  >>=20  >  > JF,=20 > 4 > Are you saying you want DEC to upgrade DECwindows? > I > If so, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this will likely take a  > long time ...  >  >:-) :-)  8 And you think not upgrading would be a good thing??  :-(   bill     --  J Bill Gunshannon          |  de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n.  Three wolvesD bill@cs.scranton.edu     |  and a sheep voting on what's for dinner. University of Scranton   |A Scranton, Pennsylvania   |         #include <std.disclaimer.h>       ------------------------------  % Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 07:15:35 -0500 - From: JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@teksavvy.com> / Subject: Testing if file is openable read/write , Message-ID: <41A086C1.BEF923F9@teksavvy.com>  K The LBR$ routines have a built-in delay of a whopping 2 minutes if it can't D open a file for update. This means that your appplication is totally unresponsive for that time.   O Therefore, prior to invoking the LBR$ routine, I have to test for file locking.   3 The obvious way is to do a SYS$OPEN for read/write.   " Is there a better way to do this ?  L Also, when a SYS$OPEN fails for any reason, should a SYS$CLOSE be executed ?   ------------------------------   End of INFO-VAX 2004.647 ************************