kaufman@yale.ARPA (Qux the Barbarian) (12/03/84)
Before I get into the state of computing at Yale, I'd like to disagree
with Ksiazek (sjk@aicchi), who in <344@aicchi.UUCP> wanted to end this
discussion on the observation that scarcity of resources is an
unavoidable, real-world problem. Even granting that that is so, I'm
finding it very interesting to be able to compare the situation at Yale
with other universities on the net, partly to know where we stand, and
partly from the standpoint of someone who will have to look at graduate
schools sometime in the not-so-distant future. I'd really appreciate
hearing more from the other universities on the net.
The state of computing at Yale: I've been holding off, hoping somebody
else here would answer Betsy Perry (dartvax!betsy), who in
<2590@dartvax.UUCP> passed this on:
At Yale, the tour guide said "It's really great! Only CS and
Math majors get access to the computer, so we have enough spare
time to do anything we want!"
There are (as there seem to be at many universities) two sets of
computers at Yale. The Yale Computing Center (YCC) runs 5 VAX-11/750
VMS systems, and a 4361 VM/CMS system dedicated to undergraduate use:
the Vaxen are used for lower level CS courses and a few Mechanical
Engineering and other courses, and the 4361 has some other courses and
free (actually a funny money account with a trickle-down system; I'm
told it's just enough to write a long paper and then not use for a week
or so) word-processing accounts for any undergraduate who asks. Output
on the laser-printer requires a real-money account, which is also easy
to get. So the student who wants an account can get one, though I have
to admit that I don't find the IBM a very attractive environment.
The Computer Science Department Facility consists of:
1 DEC-2060, scheduled to disappear in ~1 year
1 Vax 11/780 with FPA, VMS
1 Vax/11-750, VMS
5 Vax/11-750, Unix 4.? ("upgrades" to 4.2 are complete, underway, or planned
for all of these; one gateways to UUCP, another to ARPA & Bitnet)
1 Pyramid 90x
4? Symbolics 3670 Lisp Machines
~100 Apollo workstations, in two rings (one with ~40 nodes, the other with ~60)
Mid-level undergraduate courses are just moving from one of the Unix
Vaxen (Comix, our UUCP/Usenet gateway) to the Pyramid (Cheops).
Upper-level undergraduate courses are taught using one of the Apollo
rings (The Zoo; it's the 40 node ring). Anybody who qualifies (by
taking the Systems Programming course, one of the mid-level ones) can
get a "major's" account on Comix and the Zoo; sometime Real Soon Now,
we're all meant to be moving from Comix to Cheops. Major's accounts are
given out by a student committee (of which I'm a member), and we're
pretty generous about giving accounts to non-CS majors and people who
have a good reason for not having taken the Systems Programming course
yet, but still want to hack.
As far as hacking opportunity goes, Comix has complete Unix sources and
a much nicer environment than any of the other 4.2 Unix machines. We
got converted first, and there's a hard core of Unix hackers who have
ported most of the local tools from 4.1 (many of them developed by
undergrads who came before us). We have control over a directory tree
that basically allows us to hack anything we want that doesn't have to
be suid, and the Unix maintainers on the Facilities Staff realize that
we do a lot of work that benefits all, and are pretty good about suid
programs too.
So what does it all boil down to? In substance, Betsy Perry's tour
guide was almost accurate. The CS Majors and other hacker-types *do*
have their own little computer heaven to play in, isolated from the rest
of the undergraduates; there have been a few undergrad hackers on the
IBM, but not many. On the other hand, the other undergrads have a
pretty reliable, stable system for paper-writing. In comparison with
the other universities we've heard from on the net, Yale looks very
good, much better than I expected, actually. We have adequate hardware,
though the load on any computer system can (and does) get out of hand
shortly before an assignment is due, and we have ample opportunity to
play with the Unix software.
Before all the undergraduate hackers out there start trying to transfer
to Yale :-), I should point out that all is not sweetness and light
here. I won't discuss the quality of teaching or attitude towards
undergrads in the Department; I'd be happy to do so by mail, probably
after exams.
Oh, yeah: the opinions herein are my own, and the facts are seen from
my perspective. The University is irresponsible, I mean not responsible
for all this. And I apologize for its length, too. And sorry, Ksiazek,
but I'd really like to hear from MIT and the West Coast on this issue...
Qux
Kaufman@Yale.Arpa Kaufman@YaleCS.Bitnet ..!decvax!yale!kaufman