RE: System 3 Code -- RPG400-L

That was a challenge.  Here is my reply - originally written to Lisa Abney.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After about 13 replies to your note below, it should be clear to you that
there are some awfully forgetful people on this mailing list.

They don't remember that RPG I was created to replace DITTO.  That RPG one
was implemented on 360 and 1130 before System/3.  They didn't point out that
RPG I didn't permit subroutines.  I'll bet that some of them will tell you
that that they don't know what DITTO is.  Incredible.  See what the passage
of time does to memory?

Somebody said that CICS ran on a 15D ... NEVER!  (read this next bit very
fast, in a quiet voice ... Of course, CCP was created by tearing big chunks
out of the CICS source code and porting it to an 8-bit machine and had to be
gen'd just like CICS where every file and program that ran under CCP was
specified and the memory region and buffers were described and ... well,
never mind.)

They forgot to mention the legend that the smallest originally-announced
System 3 model never shipped because the RPG err, umm, "compiler" couldn't
be shoehorned into the max memory on the machine.  (Where is Hans Koert when
you need him ... :)  Or that they were done up in black crinkle paint and
looked like and antique coffee grinder.

Mel mentioned the console on a 15D ... :)  He didn't mention what happened
if the bolt holding the 5-volt cable to the top of the main gate became
loose or if the grounding was correct.  Mel mentioned partitions - BG, F2
and F2.  Those the only places where stuff could run on a 15D.  Period.  On
models 8, 10, 12 and 15, there was just one thread of execution.  See how
the memory goes?

Nobody mentioned that the 96-column cards were approximately square and this
made it hard to properly orient them after you dropped a tray - the corner
cut was important.  Or that the holes were round instead of square which
made them easier on the eyes if you threw a handful of scurf at someone.  Or
that they made crummy book marks and note papers - unlike 80-column cards.
Nobody mentioned the 10 meg pizza-platter disks.  Nobody mentioned the awful
tape drives with the slide-up plastic doors - horrible things.  Nobody
mentioned that 15Ds used 1403 printers or told you what happened if the oil
ran low in the printer or talked about programming carriage tapes.  Nobody
mentioned the fact that terminals were VERY heavy and VERY dumb and had to
be connected the machine using special coax cable with funny BNC connectors.
Nobody mentioned debugging a CCP gen - not funny given the absence of a
debugger and the available documentation.  Only Mel mentioned program
overlays - sort of important with that 32K max program size.  Nobody
mentioned the almost-undocumented $-sign macro calls used to read and write
to the displays.  Nobody mentioned MRTs (Is that wailing or moaning I
hear?).  Nobody mentioned that the System 3 didn't have a debugger.  Or that
the 3310/3340 were the original Winchester disk.  Nobody mentioned the
rewards of making SORT do everything or the mysteries of making it work
right.  Or the days where people didn't trust their disk drives because they
crashed all the time - remember 2311 and 2314?  Is that crying I hear?

See what happens when people have "a lot of experience"?  They forget stuff.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm going to my room now - to look up more terrifying stuff!

Richard Jackson
mailto:richardjackson@richardjackson.net
http://www.richardjacksonltd.com
Voice: 1 (303) 808-8058
Fax:   1 (303) 663-4325

> |-----Original Message-----
> |From: owner-rpg400-l@midrange.com [mailto:owner-rpg400-l@midrange.com]On
> |Behalf Of Norm Dennis
> |Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 7:40 PM
> |To: RPG400-L@midrange.com
> |Subject: Re: System 3 Code
> |
> |
> |> I have a long satirical reply to this about how "very
> |experienced" people
> |> are forgetful - but it doesn't matter.
> |
> |Richard,
> |go to your room until you learn to respect your elders. <VBG>
> |
> |
> |Norm
> |
> |__________________________________________________
> |
> |Western Midrange Software Services Pty Ltd
> |Office Telephone: +61 8 9312 1995
> |Mobile Telephone: 0417 659 914
> |Web Site: http://www.iinet.net.au/~wmss
> |__________________________________________________
> |
> |
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