Dan Abel wrote:
> In article >,
> Krypsis > wrote:
>
>> DOS 5.0 was a "Disk Operating System", not an "Operating System" as that
>
> No, it's an operating system, one based on disks rather than the
> previous standard, which was magnetic tapes. When I got my first job
> programming, we had a disk based OS, but all the commands were backward
> compatible to tapes. After you got done looking at a file, the file
> pointer was at the end. If you tried to look at the file again, there
> was nothing left to see. There were a lot of panic attacks. "My file
> is gone!". No, it was just fine. You needed to issue a REWIND command
> to move the file pointer back to the beginning. This made a lot of
> sense for tape files, since you often stored multiple files on a tape,
> and sometimes you wanted to access them sequentially. It takes
> comparatively long to rewind a tape file, so it wasn't done
> automatically.
>
>> would assume control over a bit more than disk drives and various bits
>> of hardware. There wasn't even a hint of security in DOS (input any
>> version), a feature vital in a multiuser/multitasking environment.
>
> The computer used physical security. You locked it in a room, and no
> one could access it. That's all you needed. And there was no multiuser
> or multitasking. There was no network connection. At best, there was a
> dialup modem, which was never left connected. You *always* disconnected
> when not using it. And if you forgot, generally you got disconnected
> automatically after a short time of no traffic (10 minutes for my ISP
> from home).
>
Our CDOS systems had NO security, CDOS being a derivative of CP/M. Our
Cromix systems, on the other hand, were full on security (for the era)
as well as being multiuser and multitasking. Since Cromix was based on
Unix System V, these attributes were a logical flow-on. Because we used
sensitive data in my department, this security was essential. As for
dial-up, we had permanent lines to our branch offices in three locations
around the urban area and they were never deliberately disconnected.
Hash on the lines would frequently cause disconnections but the systems
in the branch offices would detect this and automatically redial and
reconnect.
The only physical security we used was that the servers were initially
in an annexe off my office. People had to get past me to physically
access the servers. Normal means of access was via serial terminal or
dial-up. I cannot recall if the servers were physically connected to
each other by a network cable or whatever. I know the later ones were
using thick ethernet but that was when the computers became a serious
thing and they were moved off into their own server room. I seem to
recall a DEC PDP11 in the building back then but it was in a large area
of its own.

Krypsis