🚀 go-pugleaf

I think CMS is better than Unix.  Of course, I use Unix every day
for programming, documentation, and electronic mail, whereas I
avoid CMS whenever possible.  Nonetheless, I think CMS is superior,
for several reasons:

1)  CMS allows commands to be abbreviated.  Instead of laboriously
entering "cat" every time you want to see a file, you type "t",
which is short for "type".

2)  The question mark is not reserved, and can be used as a help
facility.  For example, "batch ?" yields an explanation of the batch
command, rather than the C shell's unfriendly "No match" message.
Incidentally, the ? was inspired by RSTS, which we all know is a
paragon of software design.

3)  You can't delete all your files in a single command without
trying really hard.  Only the last command below actually removes
everything:	erase *
		erase * *
		erase * * a
		erase * * a1

4)  CMS can read almost any kind of tape; Unix tape work is a pain
unless you're using tar.  There's a lot to be said for IBM standard
label tapes-- they can be read around the world, and have lots of
useful information on them.  In contrast, tar tapes can't be read
on V6 systems, and blocked tar tapes made on Berkeley Unix can't
be read on non-Berkeley V7 systems.  Berkeley's tar cannot append
information to a tape.

5)  Much good software is available for CMS that doesn't run well
on Unix.  SPSS, IMSL, Tell-a-graf, etc, are all written in Fortran,
and we all know the shortcomings of f77.  When it was written, IBM's
FORTHQ was a pioneering optimizing compiler; it is still very solid.

In the end, though, one wonders why this message is being sent
over a Unix-based network.  When it comes to communications, IBM
is very weak.
			Bill Tuthill