From: MERC::"uunet!CRVAX.SRI.COM!RELAY-INFO-VAX" 2-MAY-1992 21:26:19.15 To: info-vax@kl.sri.com CC: Subj: DECUS Questions Answered (last modified 27-Apr-92) *****Last modified 27-Apr-1992***** There are a few basic questions that get asked from time to time that indicate that people don't know much about DECUS and how to use its services. Monthly I post a list of answers to DECUS related questions that may be of interest to the net. If you have something to add or a correction to this posting, please let me know. Text changed since the last posting is indicated by a "|" at the beginning of the line. ----- Some basic answers to DECUS questions: 1) What does DECUS stand for and how do you pronounce it? Digital Equipment Computer Users Society The pronunciation is open for discussion. My belief is that the correct way is DEE-CUS as opposed to DECK-US. 2) How can I contact DECUS? DECUS is made up of several "chapters." People wishing to join DECUS may do so based upon their place of residence. U.S. residents join the U.S. Chapter: DECUS U.S. Chapter 333 South Street, SHR1-4/D30 Shrewsbury, MA 01545-4195 +1-508-841-3389 | The U.S. Chapter currently has over 50,100 members. All DECUS U.S. Chapter leaders and staff may now be reached via electronic mail. In general their addresses are of the form @dcs.decus.org. For example I am POOLE@DCS.DECUS.ORG On the internet you should be able to type "finger @DCS.DECUS.ORG" to find the address of anyone you need to contact. Canadian residents join DECUS Canada: DECUS Canada 15th Floor 505 University Avenue Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X4 +1-416-597-3437 DECUS Canada currently has over 6,100 members. 3) How much does it cost to join DECUS and where can I get a membership form? Membership in DECUS is open to anyone and is FREE. Membership forms may be obtained from the DECUS office, LUGs and the back of the Newsletter. To check your membership status or to notify DECUS of a change of address call +1-508-841-3500, +1-508-841-3511 or +1-508-841-3502. 4) What services does DECUS provide its members? DECUS offers many services to its members. Some of the more notable are: a) The DECUS U.S. Chapter Symposia, held twice each year. The next few Symposia will be: Atlanta, GA, May 4-8, 1992 Las Vegas, NV, December 7-11, 1992 Atlanta, GA, June 5-11, 1993 San Francisco, CA, December 4-10, 1993 New Orleans, LA, May 7-13, 1994 If you can not attend, Transactions are available for these meetings (usually $25 per meeting). For more information on the U.S. Chapter Symposia, call +1-508-841-3502. | Beginning in the spring of 1993, symposia will be joined by a | co-located, DECUS owned trade show. Other chapters of DECUS also hold symposia. DECUS Canada holds an annual symposium. b) The DECUS Program Library, a VERY large collection of software for almost every computer DEC has ever made, which is available for essentially the cost of reproduction and distribution. The current issue of the library catalog is the 1991/1992 edition with the Winter/Spring 1992 update. The hardcopy catalog is available free of charge to DECUS members. An online version of the catalog is now available as a pilot project of the Library Committee from acfcluster.nyu.edu (anonymous FTP in the directory [.DECUS]) and on BITNET from VMSSERV@NYUACF (use VMSSERV messages). More information can be obtained by calling +1-508-841-3389 or by sending e-mail to DECUSLIBRARY@DECUS.ORG. Information on preparing a submission for the library can be obtained by calling +1-508-841-3564. Orders may be placed by calling +1-508-841-3500. | c) The DECUS U.S. Chapter Newsletter, a bimonthly collection of Newsletters from the Special Interest Groups, DECUServe, Symposia Proceedings and the Library which is available on a yearly subscription basis (currently $40 annually). Subscription information is available by calling +1-508-841-3502. d) Regional Conferences, local users groups from time to time host DECUS mini-symposia focused on some subset of Digital products. | e) DECUSCOPE, a quarterly information publication sent free to all DECUS U.S. Chapter members. f) DECUS Merit Scholarship Program, a Merit Scholarship has been established to be awarded annually to a DECUS member or member's child. The DECUS member must have had membership in DECUS for at least three (3) years as of January 1 of the award year in order to be considered. The annual Merit Scholarship competition is conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corp., whose purposes are to identify and honor talented high school students and to award college undergraduate scholarships to the most outstanding of them. For more information contact Ms. Paula Morin, +1-508-841-3537 g) DECUServe, a teleconferencing system using VAX Notes. It is available to all U.S. Chapter DECUS members for a $60 per year subscription charge. Subscribers also pay their own long distance telephone charges or may connect to the system via the Internet. It is the intent of this system to allow members of DECUS to interact with each other concerning technical topics, on a day-to-day basis. A subscription form is available in the January 1988 issue of DECUSCOPE and in the back of the combined Newsletters. You can also obtain information on-line by calling +1-800-521-8950 or by TELNETing to DECUSERVE.DECUS.ORG and logging in as INFORMATION or by calling +1-508-841-3511. You can receive a copy of a DECUServe application by sending mail to APPLICATION@DECUSERVE.DECUS.ORG. If you include ps or postscript in the mail title you will receive a PostScript version of the application, ln3 or ln03 will result in an application suitable for printing on an LN03, otherwise you will receive flat text. DECUServe currently has over 1900 subscribers. h) Seminars, a program of seminars on topics of interest to DECUS members, presented at various times and locations around the U.S. and immediately preceding symposia. Call Diane Spirio at +1-508-841-3577 for more information. i) DECUShare, a new service which will allow subscribers to access the SIG Symposia Distribution Tapes and a subset of the DECUS Library on-line. This service is not yet available but funding has been approved. Watch for the announcement of availability. | j) Third-Party Developers Conference, a new service scheduled for | its first presentation in the fall of 1992. It will be a 2 day | conference held twice a year. This service will replace the | Technical Update currently being presented. Watch for more | information in the future. 5) What is a SIG and a UIG? SIGs are Special Interest Groups. There are many SIGs in DECUS. Some are: Applications, Integration and Management (AIM), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Acquisition, Analysis, RealTime and Computer Integrated Manufacturing (DAARC), Data Management (DMS), Fourth Generation Languages (4GL), Education (EDUSIG), Electronic Publishing (E-Pubs), Graphics Application (GAPSIG), Languages and Tools (L&T), MUMPS, Networks, Personal Computing (PC), Security, Site Management & Training (SITE), Technology Hardware & Engineering (THE), Third Party Providers (3P), UNISIG (UNIX, ULTRIX), and VAX Systems. UIGs are User Interest Groups. These are really either new SIGs in the making or old SIGs going out of business. They provide the same kinds of services that SIGs provide but are short of volunteer leadership. Business Practices (BP) and User Interface (UI) are examples of current UIGs. SIGs and UIGs sponsor sessions at symposia, publish newsletters and in other ways provide services to DECUS members interested in particular subsets of problems and applications of DEC computers and software. 6) What is a LUG? A LUG is a Local Users Group. There are many LUGs throughout the U.S., Canada and the rest of the world (the current count is 158 in the U.S. alone). LUGs usually are associated with one or more SIGs. For example many LUGs deal with the problems of VAX systems only. To find a LUG near you, call +1-508-841-3574/3570/3389. ----- DEC, DECUS, DECUSCOPE, LN03, ULTRIX and VAX are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corp. UNIX is a trademark of Unix System Laboratories, Inc. MUMPS is a registered trademark of Massachusetts General Hospital PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc. ----- Clyde T. Poole - Technical Coordinator, Facilities and Equipment (in real life) DECUS U. S. Chapter, Vice-Chair of the Management Council and member of the Board of Directors (in my spare time) Univ. of Texas at Austin Internet: ctp@cs.utexas.edu DCS: POOLE Dept. of Computer Sciences UUCP: {uunet,harvard}!cs.utexas.edu!ctp Taylor Hall 2.124 BITNET: ctp@UTXVMS SPAN: UTSPAN::UTADNX::ctp Austin, TX 78712-1188 VOICE: +1-512-471-9551