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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
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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