IBM’s new-found commitment to Mumps, which springs from having missed the boat on a number of lucrative Mumps-compliant contracts, is one of a number of signs that the Massachusetts Utility Multi-Programming community is in for an interesting year. At the recent Mumps User Group meeting in London – they like to think of themselves as […]
IBM’s new-found commitment to Mumps, which springs from having missed the boat on a number of lucrative Mumps-compliant contracts, is one of a number of signs that the Massachusetts Utility Multi-Programming community is in for an interesting year. At the recent Mumps User Group meeting in London – they like to think of themselves as MUGs for some reason -IBM UK’s Mumps marketing chief John Mabbott said: It may have taken IBM a long time to realise Mumps wasn’t going to go away, but we’re still learning. Long considered one of the industry’s best kept secrets, Mumps is now acknowledged to have a number of benefits. Chief of these is its ability to run as a guest operating system under VM, so that VM can establish the transparent communications with the outside world. Other touted credentials include multi user capabilities, adherence to standards, an SQL interface, and its incorporation of a range of fourth-generation languages. The user group also claims that in the UK, it now has the backing of a 150-strong marketing, support, and development team. Other players pitching for the market include Hewlett-Packard, Micronetics, Mumps Collaborative, Sequent, InterSystems, Pyramid and of course DEC – Mumps and the PDP-11 enjoyed a long and happy partnership. DEC has been hinting at a proprietary update of its Mumps systems for some time, and was tipped to reveal details at the 18th MUG in Seattle, which ended Friday.
