From: Paul Repacholi [prep@prep.synonet.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 4:48 PM
To: GlennEverhart@firstusa.com
Subject: Re: Alpha stuff.

Re itanic, No integer overflow traps... You have to check it in SW.
Want to port LIBRTL? ;) Oh, and it does not have the protection
combinations, and I *think* it is missing execute only... So no
sharing of libries in SEVMS any more. If I had $10B ratteling around,
I'd get stuck in to them and dump Winkler et al and most of the PC
lossage.

I think there is a small market for GOOD PC gear. Like the Prioris or
the Celebris(?). Standard, except for SW disks, and rock solid. But
you do it to keep the ALpha customers happy, not to make a big buck
at.

Shit, when you go over it all, what have the Q done? iPaq? Nope, son
of Itsy, DEC WRL, using the processor formerly owned by DEC :( Alpha,
now dead. Piranha, gone to intel. Bet they will make a mint from it.
All the SW research, gone nowere for years, some was started, but it
has just rotted from lack of attention.


Your layering idea is a good one, and a must I think. One thing that
VMS is missing is the ability to 'shadow' to a larger disk. The way
IMO is to 'shadow' at the file level. Then you can pick up all
existing file IDs, and do a read -- re-write in place to create and
copy the files over. Then you could drop out the original smaller
drive. You *could* expand the header, bitmaps... but for the amount of
effort to do it right in a cluster, I'd look for a simpler more
complete method.

I know one thing, NONE of the sci SW will be ported, VMS is near dead
there as it is, and asking them to add the donkey to the mix will kill
it right off.

And the curse is, there are a huge number of people who would jump
onto the VMS/Alpha wagon if they could. But there is nothing as a
follow-on to the 21066 or 21164PC. A lower speed EV7/8 could have been
a killer there if it was worked over a bit, and re done for lower
power. Hell, what about a lower power EV8, with one of its inter CPU
links modded slightly to drive the video system. Offer Sony a deal on
it for PS3 :) 4 'CPUs' and huge BW to the video.  Plus near zero cost
after the main chips and memory...  Even if no one bit, give the plans
away.

Wonder how long before houston starts pulling the funds for full
ports?  Beginning of next year I'd guess, so as to get it off the EOY
report.

Even worse, they had just started to get the hard cases to believe
them that they were serious about getting VMS going!

I'm glad you are out at least. I feel sorry for those still trapped
in SW engineering though, and the Alpha guys.


-- 
Paul Repacholi                               1 Crescent Rd.,
+61 (08) 9257-1001                           Kalamunda.
                                             West Australia 6076
Raw, Cooked or Well-done, it's all half baked.
EPIC, The Architecture of the future, always has been, always will be.