[Coco] Re: OS Vulnerabilities

[Theodore Evans (Alex)]

On Feb 28, 2004, at 8:02 AM, Dennis Bathory-Kitsz wrote:

> At 11:39 AM 2/28/04 -0500, John E. Malmberg wrote:
>> OpenVMS is currently in use in many places, and is usable for from the
>> desktop to systems that are in disaster tolerant configurations.  It
>> qualifies as truly multi-purpose.
>
> Educate me. I know nothing about it. The last VMS system I saw was 
> running
> email at a college, and was replaced a few years ago because nobody 
> knew
> how to run it anymore. I can't go into Staples and buy software for it
> (which is no judgment, actually, as I can't buy Mac software there,
> either). So here's my random questionnaire for whether it is truly a 
> modern
> multi-purpose OS:


Let us break this up with a few OSes:
Windows, OS/2, Plan9, MacOS, AmigaDOS, FreeBSD, Linux
> Is it more than networking platform?
Question ignored,
>  Does it have a GUI?
Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
>  Graphical browsers?
Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
>  Can it do audio editing and production?
Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
>  Graphics, photos?
Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
>  Video production?
Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
>  Desktop publishing with access to Type 1 or OpenType fonts?
Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
> Does it have a MSWord-compatible text editor?
Sleazy question.  Is it able to handle this proprietary format?
Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Some	Yes	Yes
>  Read standard spreadsheets?
Are there any standard spreadsheets (formats?)?
Based on the previous question I will assume that you mean Excel files.
Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
> Does it burn CDs and DVDs?
Yes	CDs	CDs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
> Have an OS-resident spell checker?
What a stupid thing to have OS resident.  A library which uses spell 
check files in a standard location may be good.
> Is there a musical notation program for it?
Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
> Are there disabled-access methods?
Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
> Can it run off-the-shelf scanners and color printers and plotters?
Yes	Some	Some	Most	Many	Most	Most
> Is it USB-compliant?
Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
> Do it do CAD?
Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
> 3D?
Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
> Wireless networking?
Any OS capable of doing networking can do wireless networking.
> Run on laptops?
Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	There is a portable conversion for the 
A1200, and there is emulation of course.
> Have access to AIM or ICQ or MSN?
Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
> Have digital camera interfaces and software?
Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
> Firewire?
Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
> Streaming media clients like Real?
Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
> Can it play MP3s?
Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
> Interface with iPods?
Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
> Rip CDs?
Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
> Copy DVDs?
Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

> I'm gonna guess that only Windows and Mac can do these things. Linux 
> can do
> 75% of them, 50% at a pro level. Specialized clients like Irix are 
> used for
> graphics, Sun for audio. If OpenVMS can do these things, then it is the
> best-kept multi-purpose OS secret in computing history!

As you can see Windows, MacOS, Linux, and FreeBSD can do _all_ of 
these, AmigaDOS is pretty close to all, and OS/2 fares ok in spite of 
the fact that it has been out of development for a decade.

-- 
Theodore (Alex) Evans | 2B v ~2B = ?