kbwalker@violet.berkeley.edu (09/29/86)
This has come up once or twice in the past and, to my knowledge, has not been resolved. What interest is there in producing the DECUS libraries onto CD-ROM. It should be quite evident that we (DEC users) have an advantage over many other user communities regarding this issue, we have a defacto standard for the CD-ROMS (DEC's RRD50, take it or leave it). I would be quite in favor of purchasing the equipment and only having to purchase one (1) CD-ROM for the entire VAX-Library (for example) instead of our current practice. at $146/tape the ecomomics will certainly pan out. Digital should be eager to see their CD-ROM in an application such as this. I just purchased the PC-SIG's version (which uses the Hitachi CD-ROM) of their PD software on a single disk. I'm VERY satisfied. The main concern that I had prior to purchasing the system was the db lookup time. I don't know the db layout or retrieval method that they use, but it is quite responsive. Take for example: a keyword search of the entire volume for 'Lotus' responded with all matches within 4 seconds. To be sure there are limitations to this system but it is an excellent start. Anyway if you have an interest or are aware of this or similar activities in DECUS please let me know. Possibly a BOAF gathering in S.F? Kevin kbwalker@violet.berkeley.edu ...!ucbvax!violet!kbwalker