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␈↓ ↓H␈↓␈↓ ∧:Decus conference, Dec 10-13

␈↓ ↓H␈↓        The␈αDECUS␈αconference␈αin␈αSan␈αDiego␈α
last␈αmonth␈αwas␈αVERY␈αwell␈αattended.␈α
 I
␈↓ ↓H␈↓heard␈αthat␈αthere␈αwere␈αover␈α4000␈αpeople␈αthere.␈α It␈αwas␈αnot␈αa␈αtechnical␈αconference␈αbut
␈↓ ↓H␈↓it␈αwas␈αquite␈αinformative.␈αSince␈αProfessor␈αNettesheim␈αwas␈αthere␈αto␈αcover␈αthe␈αsessions
␈↓ ↓H␈↓on␈α∂the␈α∂PDP␈α∂11,␈α∂I␈α∂attended␈α∂the␈α∂sessions␈α∂concerned␈α∂with␈α∂the␈α∂PDP␈α∂10-20␈α∂family␈α∂of
␈↓ ↓H␈↓machines.

␈↓ ↓H␈↓        There␈α∞were␈α∞many␈α∞complaints␈α∂being␈α∞aired␈α∞about␈α∞DEC's␈α∞service␈α∂response␈α∞and
␈↓ ↓H␈↓quality␈α∃of␈α∃spares.␈α∀This␈α∃conference␈α∃is␈α∃apparently␈α∀the␈α∃forum␈α∃for␈α∃expressing␈α∀all
␈↓ ↓H␈↓frustrations␈αwith␈α
DEC␈αpublicly,␈α
it␈αis␈α
also␈αthe␈α
forum␈αfor␈α
expressing␈αto␈α
DEC␈αthe␈α
needs
␈↓ ↓H␈↓of its user community, software, service, training, etc.

␈↓ ↓H␈↓        New␈α↔site␈α↔preparation␈α⊗was␈α↔particularly␈α↔emphasized␈α⊗in␈α↔several␈α↔sessions␈α⊗I
␈↓ ↓H␈↓attended.␈α∞ The␈α∞KL10␈α∞is␈α∞very␈α∞susceptible␈α∞to␈α∞ground␈α∞currents.␈α∞Installations␈α∞that␈α∞had
␈↓ ↓H␈↓supported␈α
other␈α
DEC␈α∞machines␈α
with␈α
no␈α
problems␈α∞were␈α
plagued␈α
with␈α
faults␈α∞due␈α
to
␈↓ ↓H␈↓improper␈α∞grounding␈α∞when␈α
the␈α∞KL10␈α∞was␈α∞installed.␈α
 It␈α∞was␈α∞recommended␈α∞that␈α
new
␈↓ ↓H␈↓sites␈α∂be␈α∂prepared␈α∂according␈α∂to␈α∂requirements␈α∞set␈α∂forth␈α∂in␈α∂the␈α∂␈↓↓DEC␈α∂System␈α∂20␈α∞Site
␈↓ ↓H␈↓↓Preparation␈αGuide␈↓(EK-DEC20-SP-00X)␈αand␈αthe␈α␈↓↓Digital␈αSite␈αPreparation␈αGuide␈↓(EK-
␈↓ ↓H␈↓CORP-SP-00X)␈αat␈α
least␈αsix␈αmonths␈α
prior␈αto␈αdelivery␈α
date␈αof␈αthe␈α
machine␈αand␈αthat␈α
a
␈↓ ↓H␈↓DEC␈α∞representative␈α∞check␈α∞the␈α∞environment␈α∞with␈α∞the␈α∞customer␈α∞at␈α∞that␈α∞time␈α∞so␈α∞that
␈↓ ↓H␈↓any␈α⊂changes␈α⊂that␈α⊂may␈α⊃be␈α⊂required␈α⊂can␈α⊂be␈α⊂taken␈α⊃care␈α⊂of␈α⊂well␈α⊂in␈α⊂advance␈α⊃of␈α⊂the
␈↓ ↓H␈↓arrival of the machine.

␈↓ ↓H␈↓        The␈α_languages␈α_that␈α_are␈α↔officially␈α_supported␈α_by␈α_DEC␈α_include:␈α↔Fortran,
␈↓ ↓H␈↓COBOL,␈α)Algol-60,␈α)APL,␈α*Basic,␈α)CPL,␈α)DBMS,␈α*MACRO/LINK,␈α)and
␈↓ ↓H␈↓SORT/MERGE.␈α Languages␈α
which␈αare␈αavailable␈α
(or␈αare␈α
soon␈αto␈αbe␈α
so)␈αbut␈αare␈α
non-
␈↓ ↓H␈↓products␈α⊃include:␈α⊃Ada,␈α⊃Pascal,␈α⊃BLISS,␈α⊂and␈α⊃Simula.␈α⊃There␈α⊃are␈α⊃several␈α⊂languages,
␈↓ ↓H␈↓software␈αpackages␈αand␈αdocumentation␈αavailable␈αfrom␈αDEC␈αusers␈αfor␈αthe␈αcost␈αof␈αtape
␈↓ ↓H␈↓and␈α∂postage.␈α∂I␈α∂have␈α∂a␈α∂list␈α⊂of␈α∂names,␈α∂addresses,␈α∂and␈α∂what␈α∂was␈α∂presented␈α⊂as␈α∂being
␈↓ ↓H␈↓available at the conference, and of course there is also the Decus handbook.

␈↓ ↓H␈↓        DEC␈αprovides␈αseveral␈αcourses␈αfor␈αtraining␈αpeople␈αin␈αthe␈αuse␈αof␈αtheir␈α
machines
␈↓ ↓H␈↓and␈α
software.␈α
 Regrettably␈αmost␈α
of␈α
these␈αcourses␈α
are␈α
offered␈αon␈α
the␈α
East␈α
Coast.␈α At
␈↓ ↓H␈↓the␈αrequest␈αof␈αseveral␈αconference␈αattendees␈αDEC␈αrepresentatives␈αagreed␈αto␈αattempt␈α
to
␈↓ ↓H␈↓set␈αup␈αa␈αpermanent␈αWest␈αCoast␈αtraining␈αcenter.␈α They␈αdo␈αoffer␈αsome␈αcourses␈αon␈αthe
␈↓ ↓H␈↓West␈α
Coast␈αnow,␈α
but␈α
not␈αon␈α
a␈αregular␈α
basis.␈α
 They␈αwill␈α
also␈α
offer␈αa␈α
course␈αon-site␈α
for
␈↓ ↓H␈↓anyone␈αwilling␈αto␈αpay␈αfor␈αit;␈αthey␈αfigure␈αthat␈αthe␈αbreak-even␈αpoint␈αfor␈αsuch␈αa␈αcourse
␈↓ ↓H␈↓occurs␈α∪with␈α∪4-5␈α∪students.␈α∪ This␈α∩approach␈α∪is␈α∪feasible␈α∪if␈α∪several␈α∪institutions␈α∩join
␈↓ ↓H␈↓together in the course.

␈↓ ↓H␈↓        The␈αmajor␈αbenefit␈αof␈αthe␈αconference␈α
appears␈αto␈αbe␈αits␈αability␈αto␈αbring␈α
together
␈↓ ↓H␈↓users␈αof␈αDEC␈α
machines␈αfor␈αthe␈α
purpose␈αof␈αsharing␈α
experiences,␈αsoftware,␈αbugs,␈α
fixes,
␈↓ ↓H␈↓and␈αfrustrations.␈αIt␈αhelps␈αto␈αknow␈αsomeone␈αelse␈αin␈αyour␈αarea␈αwith␈αa␈αsimilar␈αmachine
␈↓ ↓H␈↓setup,␈α∩someone␈α∩you␈α∩can␈α∪call␈α∩when␈α∩all␈α∩seems␈α∪hopeless␈α∩only␈α∩to␈α∩discover␈α∪that␈α∩the
␈↓ ↓H␈↓problem you're having was had by them as well and has been solved.