Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ucbvax.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!ucbvax!info-vax From: info-vax@ucbvax.ARPA Newsgroups: fa.info-vax Subject: Re: How big is VMS? Message-ID: <4200@ucbvax.ARPA> Date: Tue, 15-Jan-85 12:05:34 EST Article-I.D.: ucbvax.4200 Posted: Tue Jan 15 12:05:34 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 16-Jan-85 05:38:22 EST Sender: daemon@ucbvax.ARPA Organization: University of California at Berkeley Lines: 44 From: callas%meteor.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (Hardware is just a mathematical abstraction) A recent posting to net.unix-wizards mentions UNIX's smallness as one of its virtues. For comparison, I know of a functioning MicroVMS system that occupies a total of 2878 blocks on an RD disk and can be stored as a backup save set on 4 RX50 floppies. The person responsible for this calls it "NanoVMS", and points out that "since it can MOUNT disks, and perform COPY and BACKUP operations from them, it can grow into a full VMS system without any omissions." ---Pete I'll see you a VMS and raise you back a UNIX... The Fortune Systems 32:16 operating system (a UNIX v.7/4.1bsd/Sys-III derivative), including a fancy menu-driven shell and "user-friendly" software installation package, comes with the system on THREE (3) 5-1/4" floppies (less than 2370 1K blocks). Since it can format disks (floppies and hard disks of various sizes), "mkfs" them, mount/umount, copy, install, backup, and delete software (both protected and un-), it could "grow into a full UNIX", except that it already is pretty much of one. (The compilers, major development tools, and applications are unbundled.) [...] Actually, the UNIX stuff is really on the first two disks; the third one is completely full of the "user-friendly" shell (mostly the screens and the error messages.) So let's trim it down to what a UNIX person would consider a basic execution environment -- the first two disks. That's less than 1.6 megabytes. "I'll see your four floppies and raise (oops! lower) you to two..." I'm afraid you lose. The 2878 block system mentioned above (Which I have never heard of -- I'm impressed!) is a 2878 512 byte block system! This makes it nearly 1/2 the size of the 2370K system you mention, and at 1.4 megabytes, still smaller than the 1.6 megabyte "user-surly" system you mention. However, the point that your 2 floppies hold much more data than the 4 RX50's is conceded. Jon Callas callas%meteor.DEC@decwrl.ARPA ...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-meteor!callas