Opinion of VMS C?

[The devil himself]

Re: Opinion of VMS C?__________________________________________________________

> [F]ake the missing system calls and work around language differences, or buy
> a Unix emulator?

	Well, DEC has announced a good Unix emulator for VMS called DEC/Shell,
but I don't believe it's available to the public yet.  I've used it, and it
works quite well.  I'm not familiar with other Unix emulators for VMS (such
as Eunice) so I can't offer any information on those.

	I can offer information on porting Unix software to VMS, though; and
that's the strategy I'd recommend over buying a Unix emulator (depending, of
course, on the software you're trying to port).  I've had much success getting
Unix software - like things from net.sources - running on VMS.
	VAX C (formerly VAX-11 C) has a run-time library that implements most
of the Unix system functions.  Most of the ones that aren't implemented seem
to be Unix-specific.  Appendix A of "Programming in VAX-11 C" tells you which
ones are implemented and which ones aren't.
	Look on the bright side; you may be losing a few dozen Unix system
functions, but you're gaining hundreds of new functions:  System service (SYS$)
functions, run-time library (LIB$, SCR$, STR$, OTS$) functions, functions used
by other languages (BAS$, FOR$, PAS$, PLI$, etc.), and various others (CLI$,
LBR$, etc.).
	Have fun!
		<_Jym_>

:::::::::::::::: Jym Dyer
::::'  ::  `:::: Nashua, New Hampshire
::'    ::    `::
::     ::     :: DYER%VAXUUM.DEC at DECWRL.ARPA
::   .::::.   :: {allegra|decvax|ihnp4|ucbvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-vaxuum!dyer
::..:' :: `:..::
::::.  ::  .:::: Statements made in this article are my own; they might not
:::::::::::::::: reflect the views of |d|i|g|i|t|a|l| Equipment Corporation.