Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: John Ames Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,comp.unix.shell,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: [OT] Punch card times (was Re: Taking Speedy too seriously) Date: Mon, 2 Nov 2026 09:35:06 -0800 Organization: A place where nothing fits quite right Lines: 29 Message-ID: <20261102093506.00007a34@gmail.com> References: <18dee4b6cab427fa$865$2574533$802601b3@news.usenetexpress.com> <11bhv61$1bjd2$2@dont-email.me> <11bi77v$20c1p$1@news.xmission.com> <11binqk$1bjd2$3@dont-email.me> <11bmnvg$36mvk$1@dont-email.me> <11bp7nd$139t9$2@dont-email.me> <1omdnboFafC6TX33nZ2dnZfqn_GdnZ2d@giganews.com> <11brekh$139ta$4@dont-email.me> <18e361f191ae2cbb$1317$3179723$802601b3@news.usenetexpress.com> <87tsm1aoxo.fsf@atr2.ath.cx> <11c5n4b$1f300$4@dont-email.me> <11c73he$1s1nv$1@dont-email.me> <11c8319$2845p$1@dont-email.me> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Injection-Date: Mon, 02 Nov 2026 17:35:27 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; logging-data="3236318"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/XXXxFfge2UlVUl/VJVacMehR+rxZkLf4="; posting-host="728de252094a1f5e977f8ef2271adfe0" Cancel-Lock: sha1:7rodaxEfzL6xbxQoDmbRjqdg9Ww= sha256:ucJbcbMdB25dSTIDUM0Yv8jAbWqIO1JvMELJ/3ijNOo= sha1:RuEhSiCqj5/YKFOhqcj4/ZPF5p4= sha256:U6XZ8Q9UJuaysYrT3i9tHjHQusYV4roTS+2foF9u3t4= X-Newsreader: Claws Mail 4.3.0 (GTK 3.24.42; x86_64-w64-mingw32) Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:94946 comp.unix.shell:27131 alt.folklore.computers:236321 On Sun, 1 Nov 2026 19:13:45 -0000 (UTC) Lawrence D=E2=80=99Oliveiro wrote: > > Daddy built it, daddy trashed it (Ken Olsen, he was responsible > > for both). =20 >=20 > If you talk to the staff who worked under him, you won=E2=80=99t find any= body > with a bad word to say about him. He looked after his people well. >=20 > But, he was very much a Unix-hater, describing it as =E2=80=9Csnake oil= =E2=80=9D at > one point. >=20 > After he was ousted, the asset-strippers took charge. Yeah, the impression I've gotten is that Olsen was less the kind of Bad Management that drove e.g. Commodore into the ground and more just the type who made a couple critical misjudgements about where the industry was headed that ultimately doomed them. He was also uninterested in the microcomputer market, as most of the Big Players were at the time, but DEC was even later to that than IBM, lacked the cachet with non-techie Management that they had. And on top of that, the Rainbow was a dud: more expensive than the IBM PC for similar specs with only somewhat more flexible graphics and CP/M compatibility as its advantages. The Professional at least offered one of DEC's own architecture, but it was over *twice* the price of the PC.