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|D ^0Diskussion |D ^1On The Editor's Desk |Dͺ ^0Diskussion |D
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^Cby
^CDaniel Tobias

   Here's where I fill you in about what's up in the computer field.

   The big news in the IBM PC world right now is the release of DOS 4.0 
simultaneously by Microsoft (as MS-DOS) and IBM (as PC-DOS).  This shows that 
these companies have not entirely abandoned MS/PC-DOS in the OS/2 push.  I 
haven't yet received the new version; when I do, I'll comment more about it, and 
note the level of compatibility of past and present BIG BLUE DISK offerings 
under the new system.  The major changes involve removal of the 30-megabyte 
limit on hard disks, and some limited support for extended memory.  Also, an 
optional screen-oriented interface is available to those who would prefer not to 
use the cryptic "A>" command line interface.

   I seem to remember an MS-DOS 4.0 being released overseas a few months ago; 
that's somewhat confusing to have two different systems with the same version 
number.  However, that other 4.0 was never released in America; it's just 
Europeans who will have to cope with this confusion. 


   MS-DOS, while it is presently the most popular computer operating system, 
isn't the only one.  In particular, UNIX has been enjoying a great deal of 
popularity of late, in systems ranging from mainframes to micros.  It has long 
been a favorite of university hackers, and it is finding converts in many 
different applications due to its multitasking and communications abilities.  
Many people who are used to the UNIX environment find it confusing to switch to 
MS-DOS.  This sort of user appears to be whom ^1MKS Toolkit^0 from Mortice Kern 
Systems, Inc. (35 King St. North, Waterloo, ONT, Canada N2J 2W9, (519) 884-2251) 
is aimed at.  This package lets a PC user "pretend" to be using UNIX.  Its shell 
is a complete replacement for COMMAND.COM, using commands in the UNIX syntax 
(e.g., "LS" instead of "DIR", and forward slashes instead of backward).  Most 
commands are external, contained in .EXE files which can be run from COMMAND.COM 
as well as from the MKS shell, and they incorporate many useful features not 
found in MS-DOS.  There's also a "login" script letting you require a password 
for access to the machine, and allowing multiple accounts some of which enter 
the UNIX-like shell and others using the standard COMMAND.COM. 
  
   On the down side, commands are rather slow, since most of them are external 
and hence must be loaded from disk every time you invoke them.  Also, you still 
can't run UNIX-based software, since the underlying system is still MS-DOS; just 
the command shell is different.  UNIX system calls aren't supported.  (Not yet, 
anyway; the manual implies that they will in future versions.)  Not all MS-DOS 
software will run either: anything that uses batch files won't run directly 
under the different shell (though MKS Toolkit will "shell" to a copy of 
COMMAND.COM when you invoke a batch file, which works but takes extra time and 
consumes memory).  Some other programs have compatibility problems, such as TSR 
(memory-resident) routines that access the keyboard.  Hence, you end up with a 
system that's not fully UNIX or MS-DOS, but a hybrid somewhere in between that's 
not 100% compatible with either. 

   Furthermore, while the manufacturer bills this package as "the most effective 
software available for bringing productivity to the DOS environment," I don't 
see how anyone who isn't already a UNIX wizard can make effective use of it.  
The manual, as is the normal practice in the UNIX world, is terse and cryptic.  
The UNIX command syntax, originally developed of, by, and for hackers, is 
definitely not for everyone.  If you're starting from scratch with no UNIX 
experience, you can't expect to pick it up from the MKS documentation.  Hence, 
the main people this package is likely to help is those who are already familiar 
with UNIX, but who now must do work on an IBM PC.  For these people, a category 
in which many professional programmers fall, this package may be of some use, 
though it is a crutch that will make it hard on them whenever they must use a 
vanilla PC not equipped with the MKS shell.  (I must also note that, as I quoted 
above, MKS consistently uses the phrase "DOS environment" to refer to the IBM PC 
environment, a misnomer I have editorialized against in the past, since DOS is a 
name used for a number of different disk operating systems other than 
Microsoft's.  The phrase "DOS environment" can just as easily be used to refer 
to that of Apple's DOS 3.3 as distinguished from ProDOS, and in fact is used in 
that sense by Apple II enthusiasts.  When writing in a context that is not 
plainly machine-specific, therefore, I consider it inappropriate to use the word 
"DOS" without plainly specifying whose DOS is meant.) 

   Hence, I find MKS Toolkit to be an impressive feat of programming skill (an 
enormous range of UNIX commands are implemented right down to all their command 
line switches, and the "vi" text editor is even included), but its application 
is fairly limited.  If you want UNIX on a PC, get XENIX, a true implementation 
that supports the multitasking that UNIX was intended for.  Most other PC users 
are probably best off with MS-DOS or a graphic environment like Windows.  A few 
hackers, though, might find MKS Toolkit useful if they feel the added powerful 
commands are worth the slower response to simple things like getting a directory 
(an internal command in MS-DOS, but an external one in MKS Toolkit). 


   Many PC users need to keep a detailed log of their usage, whether for IRS-
required recordkeeping, billing clients for hourly usage in consulting or custom 
programming work, or keeping tabs on employees.  Several products exist for this 
purpose.  We recently received a review copy of one, ^1Utilog I^0 from Benta (12708
E. 62nd Ct., Kansas City, MO 64133; (816) 353-3765).  This program keeps a 
complete log of who's using a PC and when.  You can set it up to require logon 
with password when the system is booted, and have multiple user accounts to 
separate usage by person or purpose.  (A multi-user machine can have separate 
logons for every user so it can be determined who's using it and when; a single-
user machine might have separate accounts for different kinds of usage, like 
business versus pleasure, or different jobs, to provide a detailed accounting of 
how much of the computer's time is spent on what task.)  This password system 
adds a bit of security, at least where rank novice users are concerned.  (More 
advanced users will quickly notice that the passwords are stored in plain ASCII 
in a data file; if security was desired, perhaps they should have used some 
encryption.) 

   A reporting program will display or print statistics by day, user, or 
individual session.  In addition to the obvious items of the date and time of 
logon, user name, and length of session, a whole bunch of statistics are 
included showing just what percentage of the logged time the machine was 
actually in use rather than idling.  This is determined by a memory-resident 
program installed on startup which checks for CPU and disk usage in each 30-
second period.  I'm not sure how useful these statistics are, but they're kind 
of interesting anyway.  They're automatically saved to disk every 3 minutes in 
case of a power outage before you can log off.

   Such usage monitors have sometimes been used by employers for Big-Brother-
ish monitoring of employee productivity.  This sort of monitoring is easily 
fooled, since playing computer games registers at least as much activity as 
running a spreadsheet, and some programs have been written particularly to 
make a system 'look busy' while the user goofs off.  Some people regard such 
monitoring as an invasion of privacy, though it is a private employer's right 
to keep tabs on worker performance.  It could produce a counterproductive 
nervousness and resentment which might not be worth it for the questionable 
information gained. 

   One problem: on power-down, I normally run a program to park the heads of my 
hard disk.  There's no easy way to do this in conjunction with the logoff 
routine, since logging off puts you back in the password prompt, from which you 
can't run programs.

   The same company also makes ^1Utilog II^0, a hardware product that does much 
of the same things as Utilog I, but completely automatically; no memory-resident 
software is required.


   That's all for now; see you next month.
