HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: michael@chpc.utexas.edu (Michael Lemke)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: What should be in login.com?
Date: 20 Dec 92 18:51:09 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas System - CHPC

In article <BzJKMu.Iq7@unix.amherst.edu> twpierce@unix.amherst.edu (Tim Pierce) writes:
>In article <1992Dec18.230714.19508@chpc.utexas.edu> michael@chpc.utexas.edu (Michael Lemke) writes:
>
>>In article <1992Dec18.105507.7408@cronkite.ocis.temple.edu> linnoise@bigboy (LN) writes:
>>
>>>Anything you want.  I have mine set up logicals and symbols to access dirs
>>>that have very long names, prompt me for various things like enabling OPCOM
>>>(check for interactive mode before prompting!), setting up mail to use EVE,
>>                                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>Why do you do this in LOGIN.COM?  SET EDITOR TPU in *MAIL* exactly once 
>>is all you need.  It is remembered "for ever".
>
>Unless you want to use customized section files or the like.  The only
>way I've found to do this (to enable quoting, signature files, and the
>like) is with the logical MAIL$EDIT.

This is maybe the simplest way to set it up but certainly not the only 
one and definately the slowest as it spawns a subprocess.  In TPU parse 
the filename of the file you are editing.  If it is something like 
MAIL_*.TMP you can safely assume TPU has been called by MAIL and you can
fire up your special mail commands.  I could e-mail you Peter 
Galbraith's excellent mail quote procedure which does exactly this (and 
more).

Michael
-- 
Michael Lemke
Astronomy, UT Austin, Texas
(michael@io.as.utexas.edu or UTSPAN::UTADNX::IO::MICHAEL [SPAN])
From: gavron@spades.aces.com (Ehud Gavron 602-570-2000 x. 2546)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: Monitor
Date: 12 Dec 92 07:14:00 GMT
Reply-To: gavron@ACES.COM
Organization: ACES Consulting Inc.
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.4-b1

In article <1992Dec12.001646.20523@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>, ctanski@nyx.cs.du.edu (Chris Tanski) writes...
# 
#Can someone tell me of a way to prevent my acct. from being watched with
#the monitor command. Please reply directly to ctanski@nyx.cs.du.edu.
#Thanks.

	Yes.  Use the following command:
		$ MCR DCL

	After entering that command, and until the next time you
	log in, nobody (and I mean nobody) can watch any part of
	your process whatsoever.

	The other solution is to own your own system.  See, if you
	are on a public system, there are people whose job it may
	be to monitor you.  You can't get around it as easily unless
	you own the machine.  

	It's tough to understand, but using someone else's $50,000
	worth of hardware is a privilege, not a right, and like all
	privileges it carries responisibilities and restrictions.

#Chris Tanski

	Ehud

--
Ehud Gavron        (EG76)     
gavron@spades.aces.com
From: DWING@UH01.Colorado.EDU (Dan Wing)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: Warning.  XWATCH/SPY causes crash.
Date: 20 Dec 92 21:22:19 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: The Internet

Brendan Welch, welchb@woods.ulowell.edu, writes:

>        We had a system crash (VMS 5.5-1).  My rudimentary analysis of
>the crash dump showed "unexpected system service exception".  Further
>analysis by DEC showed that it was due to use of XWATCH/SPY, by Nick
>deSmith, 1991 OCTOBER 10, even though we had used this product successfully
>many times before.
>
>        The DEC engineer said
>1) They have 2 or 3 calls a day on crashes caused by this. It writes into
>the non-paged memory pool (which is not in itself a bad thing), but
>the product is basically older and unsupported.
>2) A typical supported 3rd-party product, but costly, would be Peek-and-Spy.
>3) DEC is working on a similar product in collaboration with Clyde Digital.
>
>        Thus I looked in the Info-VAX Monthly Posting.  This pointed me
>toward the Supervisor Series.  I hope this will be a reasonable, inexpensive
>cure [please correct me, especially if it too can cause crashes]. 

Brendan,

The warning about WATCH has been sent out on INFO-VAX (comp.os.vms) several 
times in the past.  The problem is that WATCH was originally written for 
pre-V5.0 systems, and doesn't handle SMP VAXes properly.  As you have seen, it 
can cause an unannounced, um, "system exit".

Also, WATCH, XWATCH, and related programs were NOT written by Nick -- he wrote 
an extention to WATCH which allows viewing both the 'sent' and 'received' data 
- very useful for debugging interfaces to other computers.  Net.rumor has it 
that the original WATCH was written by a DECie.

The Supervisor Series has been used here, for several months, with no crashes 
on our SMP VAX.

Raxco (unless they've changed the name of their company again [Clyde Digital?]) 
also sells a terminal-monitoring product, which is similar to Peek and Spy.  
If you cannot use a public-domain package, you should evaluate all of the 
commercial products you can find (I believe there are a few others advertised 
in the back of DN&R) because their implementations are quite different.

Interesting that DEC is co-developing a similar tool with another company....
Anyone else heard of this??

-Dan Wing, dwing@uh01.colorado.edu or wing_d@ucolmcc.bitnet (DGW11)
 Systems Administrator, University Hospital, Denver
From: gavinl1@jaguar.uofs.edu (Lori Gavin)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Thanks - not running login.com
Date: 16 Dec 92 20:48:49 GMT
Reply-To: gavinl1@jaguar.uofs.edu
Organization: University of Scranton



Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond to me concerning not running
login.com.  I think that I will modify the uaf to have LGICMD point to either
NL: or another file.  I will then run sys$login:login.com from sylogin.com if
I need to.

              Thanks again.

                 Lori


--
                                              UUUUUU         UUUUUU
 ----------------------------------            UUUU           UUUU
|  Lori Gavin                      |           UUUU       SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
|  VAX System Manager              |           UUUU      SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
|  University of Scranton          |           UUUU      SSSS UUUU     SSSS
|                                  |           UUUU      SSSS UUUU
|  BITNET: GAVINL1@SCRANTON.BITNET |           UUUU      SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
|INTERNET: GAVINL1@JAGUAR.UOFS.EDU |           UUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
|   Phone: (717)941-6133           |            UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU      SSSS
 ----------------------------------                      SSSS          SSSS
                                                         SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
                                                          SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
From: brian@dsm.fordham.edu (Brian Downing)
Subject: Re: How to make only one file readable?
Organization: Fordham University/CLC, Division of Science and Math
	<1gocsqINNik@gap.caltech.edu>
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 00:46:01 GMT

In article <1gocsqINNik@gap.caltech.edu> carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick) writes:

>   > Oh by the way, someone asked why I FINGER myuserid in my LOGIN.COM
>   > rather than just TYPEing the .PLAN file. I use MM because I think
>   > VMS MAIL stinks and MULTINET's FINGER will tell me if I have new MM
>   > messages when I FINGER myuserid.
>
>   What specifically do you dislike about MAIL?  I've found that most
>   people who complain about MAIL lament its lack of features.  They
>   tend to be surprised when I point out that MAIL *DOES* have the
>   features they want, and also a HELP command that would've told them
>   about said features.
>   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>   Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet:
>   SOL1::CARL

 Carl,
 I've been working as a VAX user assistant for almost the entire
4.5 years I've been attending school here. I certainly know how to use
HELP both from VMS and from within MAIL. I've actually written the
help library for our Computer Club. I've played with the callable mail
routines that were posted a couple years ago. I still don't like mail.

What I would rather tell you is not why I don't like MAIL but what I
do like about MULTINET's MM. One, TOPS-10/20 style token completion
and question mark help. Two, The possible completions of HEADER SINCE
are cute and I'm easily amused(see below). Three, (This is a big one now)
Automatic inclusion of my .signature file (This cannot be done from
VMS MAIL with running either spawning a subprocess via MAIL$EDIT
pointing to a command file or by defining a custom TPU section can it?)
Yes, I know VMS MAIL tries to give a directory/since but IMHO it's not
as nice as the following possiblities.

MM>head since ? date and time
  or date
  or time
  or one of the following:
FRIDAY     MONDAY     SATURDAY   SUNDAY     THURSDAY   TODAY      TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY  YESTERDAY
  or one of the following:
FIRST  LAST   LOGIN
  or "-" followed by number of days in the past
  or "*" to use the receive date of the last message
  or "%" to use the receive date of the last message
  or "#" followed by a message number to use the receive date for that message
  or holiday, one of the following:
APRIL-FOOLS               BASTILLE-DAY              BEETHOVENS-BIRTHDAY
BILBOS-BIRTHDAY           CHRISTMAS                 COLUMBUS-DAY
FLAG-DAY                  FRODOS-BIRTHDAY           GONDORIAN-NEW-YEAR
GROUND-HOGS-DAY           GUY-FAWKES-DAY            HALLOWEEN
INDEPENDENCE-DAY          LEAP-DAY                  LINCOLNS-BIRTHDAY
MAY-DAY                   MEMORIAL-DAY              NEW-YEARS
SAINT-PATRICKS-DAY        SHERLOCK-HOLMES-BIRTHDAY  VALENTINES-DAY
WASHINGTONS-BIRTHDAY
MM>

--

 Brian...

 brian downing@->fordham university, nyc ny
         brian@dsm.fordham.edu       bdowning@mary.fordham.edu
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
From: pyron@skndiv.dseg.ti.com (Dillon Pyron)
Subject: Re: Sysop checking mail
Reply-To: pyron@skndiv.dseg.ti.com
Organization: TI/DSEG VAX Support
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 15:45:52 GMT


In article <1453@sdipl.oz>, petem@sdipl1.sdi.oz.au (Peter J. MASON) writes:
>ccdarg@dct.ac.uk (Alan Greig) writes:
>>> # Can somebody tell me when it's legal and when it's illegal for a sysop to
>>> # check another user's mail?
>>> [...]
>>> 
>
>Is it relevent that only "mail" is being considered in this thread? Is the
>situation different if a user saves mail items in a more general purpose file,
>to be later perhaps read by a sysop? Seems to me that we really should be
>talking about sysops peering over the fence generally, rather than merely at
>mail items.
>
I can only speak about Texas law, but I'm sure the generalizations apply.  If
you have specific questions, take to a slime -erh lawyer/solicitor.

In Texas, the system manager is a person designated by the computer owner to
take care of, and monitor, the computer system(s).  The law presumes that a)you
are working on the computer under the employ (including contract labor) of the
owner or b)are a student in the intitution operated by the owner.  In both
cases, the law seems to imply (not written, no case law that I know of) that
the owner of the computer is also the legal owner of the data contained therin. 
This is not an apartment, where you retain rights inside.  The own may require
that the system manager monitor the contents of his/her system to ensure that
it is being properly used and that no laws are broken.

The DoD is another can of worms, but I don't feel like opening it right now.

BTW.  I break into systems for a living.  I don't practice law, but in order to
enforce my employeer's security policies, I need to understand it.  Talk to a
legal professional (pay for the advice, free advice isn't worth what you pay
for it) if you really need to know your rights.  I understand that the EC has
changed a number of things (no encryption of data transmissions, etc), so
someone in the UK should be better equipped to answer this.
--
Dillon Pyron                      | The opinions expressed are those of the
TI/DSEG Lewisville VAX Support    | sender unless otherwise stated.
(214)462-3556 (when I'm here)     |
(214)492-4656 (when I'm home)     |"Pacts with the devil are not legally
pyron@skndiv.dseg.ti.com          |binding!"
PADI DM-54909                     |-Friar Tuck   _Robin Hood:The Hooded Man_
From: system@spades.aces.com (SYSTEM MANAGER)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: VAX 11/750 and InfoServer 100
Date: 16 Dec 92 14:38:00 GMT
Reply-To: gavron@ACES.COM
Organization: ACES Consulting Inc.
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.4-b1

In article <15DEC199210481835@loyola.edu>, cmelaro@loyola.edu (Chris Melaro) writes...
# 
#	We have just recently recieved a 11/750 with no documentation.  I would
#like to be able to boot it from our InfoServer...

None of the VAX 11/xxx series machines can boot off the network.
You could undertake the task of coding a new VMB for it, but I
think the time factor outweighs the benefit.

#				CMELARO@LOYOLA.EDU

Ehud

--
Ehud Gavron        (EG76)     
gavron@vesta.sunquest.com
FEELINGS are cascading over me!!!
From: MORRIS%PIMS3.decnet@PATRICK-PIMS.AF.MIL ("PIMS3::MORRIS")
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: RE: Anonymous mail
Date: 11 Dec 92 14:50:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: The Internet

Sure.  Just get your system manager to set up an account for you called
anonymous. I'm sure after you explain to him why you need it (which I'd
rather enjoy hearing too), he'd be more than willing.

j-im-not-who-you-think-im-am
morris@patrick-pims.af.mil
From: jogl@numenor.imsd.rwth-aachen.de (Joachim Glaubrecht  #Alwd#)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: WANTED: XLOAD for VMS !?
Date: 17 Dec 1992 14:10:41 GMT
Organization: Institut f. Med. Statistics @ Dokumentation
NNTP-Posting-Host: numenor.imsd.rwth-aachen.de


hi,
 
the "Subject:"-line say's it all:
is there a unix-(ultrix?)-like xload application for VMS (DEC-Windows)?

we like to have a simple-to-understand monitor for our workload.

we KNOW about the monitor/system util, but with need it own
terminal window etc ...

ANY hint is wellcome ...
-- 
  ___             _________________________________________
 /  /  _____     !    jogl@tolkien.imsd.rwth-aachen.de     !
 __/__/_/ Gl     ! Inst. f. med.Inform. & Biometrie (IMIB) !
/_/              !___Never_send_a_boy_to_do_a_man's_job____!
From: leonard@telcom.arizona.edu (Aaron Leonard)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: xterm for VMS available?
Keywords: xterm,vms
Date: 18 Dec 92 17:54:45 GMT
Reply-To: Leonard@Arizona.EDU
Distribution: world,local
Organization: University of Arizona Telecommunications

The newest version of XTERM for VMS, version 2.1, has just
been made available, thanks to the good work of Patrick
Mahan of TGV.  XTERM supports VT102 and Tek 4014 emulation.

I'm not sure what all goodness is newly implemented in this
version.  However, it is NOT "8-bit clean".  XTERM V2.1 
requires MOTIF.

XTERM is available via anonymous FTP on Arizona.EDU (preferred
target host: Osprey.Telcom.Arizona.EDU [128.196.128.232])
in the file [software.vms.xterm]xterm021.bck.
If your FTP client is incapable of negotiating VMS file structure,
then FTP the saveset in binary mode and use a utility such as Joe
Meadows' FILE to set the recordsize to 2048 bytes.

I will NOT e-mail this saveset to those who lack Internet access.
Perhaps a VMS mailserver site may wish to provide access.

Aaron

Aaron Leonard (AL104), <Leonard@Arizona.EDU>
University of Arizona Network Operations, Tucson AZ 85721

P.S. If you are running DECwindows rather than Motif, and are
running at least VMS V5.4, then you can use XTERM012.BCK
instead.  This saveset has a recordsize of 4096 bytes.  I believe
that XTERM V1.2 requires the presense of the TW/PYdrivers.
From: scjones@thor.sdrc.com (Larry Jones)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: C programming question under VMS
Date: 14 Dec 92 21:59:38 GMT

In article <9212111249.AA17880@uu3.psi.com>, leichter@lrw.com (Jerry Leichter) writes:
> 	b)  The emulated open, creat, fopen, and freopen in the VAX C RTL
> 		work just like the ones in Unix, with the exception that an
> 		action that creates a new file in Unix usually creates a new
> 		version of an existing file in VMS.  (In VMS, if the file
> 		specification contains an explicit version number of an
> 		existing file, that version will be replaced.  If that was
> 		the only version of the file before, it remains the only
> 		version and the semantics is essentially equivalent to Unix.
> 		If the were other versions before, they continue to exist,
> 		and it may no longer be the case that the highest version
> 		number is the most current version of the file.)

Unfortunately, it would appear that whoever wrote the most recent
version of VAXCRTL didn't understand the way VMS is supposed to work. 
If you ask one of the above functions to open a file for output and
specify an explicit version number, and that file already exists, the
function fails rather than arranging for the existing file to be
overwritten or replaced (which, as has been pointed out, is actually
trivial to do with RMS).  In my opinion, this is a serious error which
should be SPRed until it gets fixed.
----
Larry Jones, SDRC, 2000 Eastman Dr., Milford, OH  45150-2789  513-576-2070
larry.jones@sdrc.com  or  ...uunet!sdrc!larry.jones
It works on the same principle as electroshock therapy. -- Calvin
From: dataram@tigger.jvnc.net (Dataram Corp. PO Box 7528)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: VAX Disassembler
Date: 15 Dec 92 21:05:29 GMT
Organization: JvNCnet, Princeton University, NJ
Originator: dataram@tigger.jvnc.net

A loooonnnnnggggg time ago I saw a VAX disassembler listed on a DECUS
tape. Does anyone know what is currently available?
                          Regards,
                               Chuck


-- 
**********************************************************
* Chuck Staatse       Dataram Corp.  609-799-0071 x 330  *
*  chuck@dataram.jvnc.net |  chuck@dataram.com           *
**********************************************************
From: kjb@calmasd.prime.com (Ken Brucker)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: Not translating lexicals in symbols
Date: 17 Dec 92 19:40:43 GMT
Organization: Computervision, San Diego CA

In article <1992Dec16.123301.20677@yang.earlham.edu>, alanmoore@yang.earlham.edu writes:
> I would like to have a symbol that has a lexical in it, but I don't want the
> lexical to be translated until the symbol is used.  For instance. make a symbol
> out of:
> 
>      dir/since="''f$cvtime(,"absolute",)-10"

	[ ... misc attempts deleted ... ]

How about just making your symbol be:

      $	x == "dir/since=""-10"""

Specified in this manner, the delta time works off of the current time so
you'll get all files created in the last 10 hours.

Ken

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
**  Ken Brucker -- VMS/Ultrix Systems Programmer/Mangler -- Computervision
 **  kjb@calmasd.Prime.COM  
  **  Practice Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty
From: leichter@lrw.com (Jerry Leichter)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: re: SMTP mail hackers
Date: 13 Dec 92 15:00:01 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: The Internet


	My users have figured out how to telnet to port 25 and talk SMTP to
	send mail. They have come up with some wonderful usernames like GOD
	and GODAGAIN.

	From my simple understanding of SMTP I would guess there is nothing I
	can do about this. I would like to know there really is something I
	could do about it and how to implement it.

No, there really is nothing at all you can do about this.  Forging mail using
SMTP is dead trivial.  (Same goes for MAIL-11.  Other protocols may be more
complex, but that doesn't make them secure.)

It's interesting that VMS apparently will make this somewhat harder in a
future version by requiring system privileges to open a link to the MAIL-11
object.  SOME Unix implementations of TCP/IP have had the ability to impose a
similar restriction (ports that only a privileged user can open), but as far
as I know SMTP has never been restricted that way.  Solutions of this sort all
suffer from the same problem:  The restriction can easily be gotten around if
the SENDING system doesn't follow the same rules as the RECEIVING system.
Since the sending system could be a private workstation or PC where the sender
has all privileges, the protection is minimal at best.

Only cryptographic protocols of various kinds (signed messages, crypto control
over who can connect to whom as provided by the DESNC) can really solve the
problem.

	(I'm just waiting for someone to send mail to my boss from *me*
	telling him to %$#^@!)

The only thing you can do is make sure that EVERYONE knows up front mail
return addresses CANNOT be relied on.  Period.  (You might try sending a
message from, oh, someone like Richard_M_Nixon_formally@White.House to
everyone pointing this out.  Humor will often let you get across a message
that people don't want to hear - let "Mr. Nixon" point out the dangers of
modern electronics.)
							-- Jerry

Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
From: bbs-comarow@jwt.UUCP (Bob Comarow)
Subject: LN03 Queues on TCP/IP LINES
Reply-To: bbs-comarow@jwt.UUCP
Organization: The Matrix
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 14:19:45 GMT

A while ago I asked if anyone knew about getting
VMS queues on terminal servers working in a network
that BANS LAT.  (Don't ask why.).  No one responded.

This is my second request for this information.  

Bob
send mail to
comarow@eisner.decus.org
or
comarow@js-jtf.af.mil
From: akira@atson.asahi-np.co.jp (Akira Takiguchi)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: file positioning with "a" via VAXCRTL
Keywords: VMS,C
Date: 19 Dec 92 16:28:24 GMT
Organization: ATSON, Inc. (a subsidiary of the Asahi Shimbun)

In article <6765@npri6.npri.com> murphy@npri6.npri.com (David P. Murphy) writes:
>>> [ . . . ] opening with mode "a+" and using fseek to rewind the file.
>>> nreadwin@micrognosis.co.uk (Neil Readwin)
> >If that really overwrites the previous contents of the file, it's a bug
> >in VAXCRTL and should not be relied upon.  Append mode is supposed to
> >force all writes to the end of the file *reguardless* of intervening
> >file positioning calls.
> >
> >scjones@thor.sdrc.com (Larry Jones)
>it does indeed do this.  opening a file with "a" or "w" makes no difference
>to the VAXCRTL image, except for the initial position of the pointer :-(

     I don't know about recent standardization, but at least traditionally
fopen(,"a") doesn't make use of O_APPEND style "forced append write".  You
can rewind file pointer after you fopen(,"a") to overwrite data.  I've
checked it on an old 4.2 BSD system.

     On the contrary, O_APPEND in VAXCRTL is NOT the same as that of unix.
It locates the pointer at the end of file, which is not true on traditional
unix.  (In unix, if you read() a block after open(,O_RDWR|O_APPEND), you
get first block of that file).
-- 
       Akira Takiguchi  at ATSON, Inc. (a subsidiary of the Asahi Shimbun)
                   WAKO GINZA bldg.  8-10-4 Ginza Chuo-ku Tokyo 104  Japan
   +81 3 3289 7051(voice) 7066(fax)  EMAIL TO <akira@atson.asahi-np.co.jp>