Comparison of Operating Systems 26 January 1997

GRADED PAPER DUE___________________________________ POINTS______

Write a paper which is an edited log of experiences using the three operating systems: OpenVMS, VM/CMS on the IBM, UNIX (Linux). For each system, begin with a terminal in the DIAL state, and write everything, or a summary of everything, that appears on the screen from the DIAL state to the time when the terminal is disconnected. Note any audible or written prompts from the operating system. If the screen contains only one line, copy it. If there is an abundance of information, summarize important points.

Start with a brief background or history of the operating system, just a paragraph or two. Then begin describing your experiences.

The first user-interface with an operating system is the sign-in. When signing-in, use an invalid account, e.g., S09999, and valid password. Conversely, use your valid account with an invalid password. Note the operating system response in each case.

Discuss some directory services that are available after signing in. Specifically, how does one get a listing of files, can sublist be displayed by using wild-card character(s), what are the character(s)? Can sorted file lists be obtained? Can subdirectories be created?

How is a new entry made to a file list; i.e., how is a new file created? What is an allowable file name, i.e., number of characters, length, extents or other qualifiers if any? What commands are available to copy a file, delete a file, rename a file, and display the contents of a file?

What kind of file security or protection mechanisms are provided by the operating system? Give some examples.

Create a file under each system with the following text:

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.

Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after.

Up Jack got and home did trot as fast as he could caper.

They put him in bed and plastered his head

With vinegar and brown paper.

What editors are available for modifying file contents? What editor did you use? How was it invoked? Was it a screen editor or a line editor? Within a file being edited, how does one search, replace, copy, move, and delete material? Can you import material from another file? Was help available during editing?

Is there a general help facility available to the user? How is it invoked? Was it helpful? When can help be invoked? Anytime? From one "screen" only?

Are there commands giving information about your use of system resources, e.g., user connect time, user CPU usage, user memory, usage, I/O usage, user process status or state?

Are there similar commands to determine overall system performance or usage of memory, the processor, I/O devices? Will the system tell who else is on the system and/or how many, what they are doing, and for how long, what their status is? Show sample invocations of commands and responses or summary responses and detail some of the information being shown.

How do you sign-off, or disengage, from the operating system? What ,if any, departing information is displayed? Can the amount of information be controlled?

Put your information about each system in a separate section of the paper. The fourth section should be a comparative discussion of the three systems. Include some comments about the kind of feedback given when signing in and out, about the ease, or difficulty of getting help, the helpfulness of help, and about the creation and editing of files.

End with a general rating of each operating system [scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)] which subjectively reflects your opinion of the operating system's "friendliness", ease of use, adaptability, etc. Which do you prefer overall? Which do you prefer least? Can you say why?

Notes

The paper should be typewritten, double spaced, 1 inch left margin, 1 inch right margin. Use 8 ½ by 11 inch paper. You should make use of a word processor.

2. Diagrams, if needed, may be drawn, typed, or copied and pasted. If copied from published material, don't forget to cite a reference for any diagrams, etc.

When you make references to manufacturer's manuals, which are available in Gaige 163 or from Academic Computing Services, instead of footnotes you can use a name and page citation in square brackets within the text. For example, [IBM7000, 123] appearing after some quoted material could be used to indicate that the material came from page 123 of an IBM publication, GA22-7000. The full citation would of course appear in a list of references.

4. You should have a title page, four sections of discussion, and a reference page or pages.

Additional help on paper writing may be obtained from the Writing Center on campus or from me.

6. Subject to in-class revision.

Some features may not exist for a particular operating system, or the feature / command exists but it is not available or implemented here. Make note of nonexistent or unavailable features, don't omit them.