Last Updated on September 30, 2010 by Dave Farquhar
A week or two ago, e-mail went out from one of our VMS administrators. He wanted to reboot one of our VMS systems.
Later in the day, our other VMS administrator sent out mail. He wanted to reboot one of our systems.
My boss responded to the second message:
NT guys, please find something to reboot. The VMS guys are catching up with you.
-Middle Management
A couple days later, we had to reboot one of our NT systems. We were talking about that at lunch. I looked across the table. “We’re ahead of you today,” I said.
“You’re ahead of us most days,” he laughed. Yes, NT’s not exactly the bastion of stability, while VMS is as stable as Unix.
“It’s not enough for us to win the war. We have to win every battle,” I said, punctuating every syllable of the last two words with my fist on the table.
I was being ridiculous. We all knew I was being ridiculous.
But I was talking to one of my friends tonight about something completely unrelated, and as I struggled with what we were talking about, I realized those words, and the sentiment behind them, permeate just about everything I do.
I’m not sure that’s such a good thing.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.
VMS "as stable as" Unix? Ha! Far more stable. (Unless you count Tandem’s NSK as a Unix.) Oh, that wasn’t the point of the article. Sorry. *smiles*
– Charlie (one of the VMS admins mentioned above, who happens to be mostly a Unix geek)
I agree with Charles. We used OpenVMS a bit at EATON while I was there. Our AS/400 and Unix machines crashed twice during my nearly one year stint as their systems administrator. The OpenVMS system never died.
That’s definitely a good thing…! Winning is everything!!!!!
Isn’t it??
:op
WATYF