From: MERC::"uunet!CRVAX.SRI.COM!RELAY-INFO-VAX" 30-JUN-1992 13:40:13.83
To: info-vax@kl.sri.com
CC:
Subj: DECUS Questions Answered (last modified 6-Jun-92)
*****Last modified 06-Jun-1992*****
There are a few basic questions that get asked from time to time that
indicate that people don't know much about DECUS and how to use its
services. Monthly I post a list of answers to questions related to
the DECUS U.S. Chapter that may be of interest to the net. If you
have something to add or a correction to this posting, please let me
know. Text changed since the last posting is indicated by a "|" at
the beginning of the line.
-----
Some basic answers to DECUS questions:
1) What does DECUS stand for and how do you pronounce it?
Digital Equipment Computer Users Society
The pronunciation is open for discussion. My belief is that the
correct way is DEE-CUS as opposed to DECK-US.
2) How can I contact DECUS?
DECUS is made up of several "chapters" with a worldwide membership
in excess of 120,000. People wishing to join DECUS may do so based
upon their place of residence. U.S. residents join the U.S. Chapter:
DECUS U.S. Chapter
333 South Street, SHR1-4/D30
Shrewsbury, MA 01545-4195
+1-508-841-3389
The U.S. Chapter currently has over 50,400 members.
All DECUS U.S. Chapter leaders and staff may now be reached via
electronic mail. In general their addresses are of the form
<lastname>@dcs.decus.org. For example I am POOLE@DCS.DECUS.ORG
On the internet you should be able to type
"finger <lastname>@DCS.DECUS.ORG" to find the address of anyone you
need to contact.
Canadian residents join DECUS Canada:
DECUS Canada
15th Floor
505 University Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1X4
+1-416-597-3437
DECUS Canada currently has over 6,100 members.
|3) How much does it cost to join the DECUS U.S. Chapter and where can
| I get a membership form?
Membership in the DECUS U.S. Chapter is open to anyone and is FREE.
Membership forms may be obtained from the DECUS office and from
most LUGs.
To check your membership status or to notify DECUS of a change of
address call +1-508-841-3500, +1-508-841-3511 or +1-508-841-3502.
4) What services does the DECUS U.S. Chapter provide its members?
DECUS offers many services to its members. Some of the more
notable U.S. Chapter services are:
a) The DECUS U.S. Chapter Symposia, held twice each year. The next
few Symposia will be:
Las Vegas, NV, December 7-11, 1992
Atlanta, GA, June 5-11, 1993
San Francisco, CA, December 4-10, 1993
New Orleans, LA, May 7-13, 1994
If you can not attend, Transactions are available for these
meetings (usually $25 per meeting) and most sessions are audio
| taped by a professional taping organization. The tapes for the
| fall 1992 Symposium in Atlanta, GA are available from:
| National Audio Video
| 4465 Washington Street
| Denver, CO 80216
| +1-303-292-2952 or +1-800-373-2952
| For more information on the U.S. Chapter Symposia, call
| +1-508-841-3502.
Beginning in the spring of 1993, symposia will be joined by a
co-located, DECUS owned trade show.
Other chapters of DECUS also hold symposia. DECUS Canada holds
an annual symposium. Their next symposium is scheduled for
March 1-5, 1993 in Montreal, Quebec. For more information on
the Canadian symposium, call +1-416-597-3462 or send e-mail to
annem@decus.ca.
b) The DECUS Program Library, a VERY large collection of software
for almost every computer DEC has ever made, which is available
for essentially the cost of reproduction and distribution. The
current issue of the library catalog is the 1991/1992 edition
with the Winter/Spring 1992 update.
The hardcopy catalog is available free of charge to DECUS
members. An online version of the catalog is now available as a
pilot project of the Library Committee from acfcluster.nyu.edu
(anonymous FTP in the directory [.DECUS]) and on BITNET from
VMSSERV@NYUACF (use VMSSERV messages). More information can be
obtained by calling +1-508-841-3389 or by sending e-mail to
DECUSLIBRARY@DECUS.ORG. Information on preparing a submission
for the library can be obtained by calling +1-508-841-3564.
Orders may be placed by calling +1-508-841-3500.
c) The DECUS U.S. Chapter Newsletter, a bimonthly collection of
Newsletters from the Special Interest Groups, DECUServe, Symposia
Proceedings and the Library which is available on a yearly
subscription basis (currently $40 annually). Subscription
information is available by calling +1-508-841-3502.
d) Regional Conferences, local users groups from time to time host
DECUS mini-symposia focused on some subset of Digital products.
e) DECUSCOPE, a quarterly information publication sent free to all
DECUS U.S. Chapter members.
f) DECUS Merit Scholarship Program, a Merit Scholarship has been
established to be awarded annually to a DECUS U.S. Chapter
member or member's child. The DECUS member must have had
membership in DECUS for at least three (3) years as of January 1
of the award year in order to be considered. The annual Merit
Scholarship competition is conducted by the National Merit
Scholarship Corp., whose purposes are to identify and honor
talented high school students and to award college undergraduate
scholarships to the most outstanding of them. For more
information contact Ms. Paula Morin, +1-508-841-3537
g) DECUServe, a teleconferencing system using VAX Notes. It is
available to all U.S. Chapter DECUS members for a $60 per year
subscription charge. Subscribers also pay their own long
distance telephone charges or may connect to the system via the
Internet. It is the intent of this system to allow members of
DECUS to interact with each other concerning technical topics,
on a day-to-day basis. You can obtain information on-line by
calling +1-800-521-8950 or by TELNETing to DECUSERVE.DECUS.ORG
and logging in as INFORMATION or by calling +1-508-841-3511.
You can receive a copy of a DECUServe application by sending
electronic mail to APPLICATION@DECUSERVE.DECUS.ORG. If you
include ps or postscript in the mail title you will receive a
PostScript version of the application, ln3 or ln03 will result
in an application suitable for printing on an LN03, otherwise
you will receive flat text.
h) Seminars, a program of seminars on topics of interest to DECUS
members, presented at various times and locations around the
U.S. and immediately preceding symposia. Call Diane Spirio at
+1-508-841-3577 for more information.
i) DECUShare, a new service which will allow subscribers to access
the SIG Symposia Distribution Tapes and a subset of the DECUS
Library on-line. This service is not yet available but funding
has been approved. Watch for the announcement of availability.
j) Third-Party Developers Conference (3Pcon), a new service
scheduled for its first presentation October 23-25, 1992, at the
Chicago Marriott Hotel. It will be a 2 1/2 day conference held
twice a year for third-party software, hardware, service and
consulting providers including software developers, system
integrators, value-added resellers and consultants. It will
feature concurrent streams of technology, business and marketing
briefings and will replace the Technical Update currently being
presented. For more information contact the DECUS U.S. Chapter
office.
5) What is a SIG and a UIG?
SIGs are Special Interest Groups. There are many SIGs in the DECUS
U.S. Chapter. Some are: Applications, Integration and Management (AIM),
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Computer Human Interfaces (CHI), Data
Acquisition, Analysis, RealTime and Computer Integrated
Manufacturing (DAARC), Data Management (DMS), Fourth Generation
Languages (4GL), Education (EDUSIG), Electronic Publishing
(E-Pubs), Graphics Application (GAPSIG), Languages and Tools (L&T),
MUMPS, Networks, Personal Computing (PC), Security, Site Management
& Training (SITE), Technology Hardware & Engineering (THE), Third
Party Providers (3P), UNISIG (UNIX, ULTRIX, OSF), and VMS Systems.
UIGs are User Interest Groups. These are really either new SIGs in
the making or old SIGs going out of business. They provide the
same kinds of services that SIGs provide but are short of volunteer
leadership. Business Practices (BP) is an example of a UIG.
SIGs and UIGs sponsor sessions at symposia, publish newsletters and
in other ways provide services to DECUS members interested in
particular subsets of problems and applications of DEC computers
and software.
6) What is a LUG?
A LUG is a Local Users Group. There are many LUGs throughout the
U.S., Canada and the rest of the world (the current count is 158 in
the U.S. alone). LUGs usually are associated with one or more
SIGs. For example many LUGs deal with the problems of VAX systems
only. To find a LUG near you, call +1-508-841-3574/3570/3389.
-----
DEC, DECUS, DECUSCOPE, LN03, ULTRIX and VAX are trademarks of Digital
Equipment Corp.
UNIX is a registered trademark of Unix System Laboratories, Inc.
MUMPS is a registered trademark of Massachusetts General Hospital
PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc.
OSF is a trademark of Open Software Foundation, Inc.
-----
Clyde T. Poole - Technical Coordinator, Facilities and Equipment (in real life)
DECUS U. S. Chapter, Vice-Chair of the Management Council and member
of the Board of Directors (in my spare time)
Univ. of Texas at Austin Internet: ctp@cs.utexas.edu DCS: POOLE
Dept. of Computer Sciences UUCP: {uunet,harvard}!cs.utexas.edu!ctp
Taylor Hall 2.124 BITNET: ctp@UTXVMS SPAN: UTSPAN::UTADNX::ctp
Austin, TX 78712-1188 VOICE: +1-512-471-9551