🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <BOGAART.91Feb4132542@lager.serc.nl>, bogaart@lager.serc.nl (Eugene  Bogaart) writes:
> 
> In the process of buying an CD-player I wonder, whether there is
> any form of compatibility between the CD-players and the data format on
> disk, because I donot like to buy 3 different (or even more)
> CD-players for each architecture of computer equipement.  

The data on the media is readable by any and all.
> 
> Dec has the RRD40 with SCSI interface for serveral machines. Is there
> any chance that another none DEC SCSI player would work as well. (e.g.
> Sun Microsystems current CD-player, I believe its number is X559H !)

SUN and Apple get a custom version, but DEC will soon use a non-custom
Sony CDU-541 as an RRD42. It can read the sound and data formats you know 
already, and can do the CDI multi-media formats about to become more 
significant in all our worlds.
 
The file systems all use the disk in whatever perverse way each decides,
but that is something you can FIX is your s/w. There is no reason
one machine can't be a simple 'disk-block' server to another.

DEC's UNIFILE (tm, or whatever) format is a slightly simplified version
of their ODS-2 format, apparently intended to simplify use on 'dumbber'
(MS-DOS?) machines. You can INI a disk under VMS to the undocumented
/STRucture=2.2 format to make your hard disk UNIFILE format. People
having their own CDROMs pressed probably aren't bothering, and are
just using vanilla ODS-2 for VMS applications.