DECUS Buried in each distribution kit and in the back of each Software Dispatch is an invitation to join the Digital Equipment Corporation User Society. The one page flyer is easy to overlook. But you if do, you overlook an offer to plug into a world-wide network of people with solutions to your problems. DECUS is split into three independent chapters: United States, Europe, and GIA. The later includes Australia, Canada, Japan, South America and other parts of the world. Each chapter has its own policies, programs, and administration. This article looks at the US Chapter and how its activities fit into your everyday work with RSX and other Digital Equipment Corporation systems. The other two DECUS chapters have similar programs. Article III of the DECUS/US Chapter Bylaws succinctly states DECUS's mission: "The purpose of the Chapter is to promote the exchange of information processing related information among users of Digital Equipment Corporation products." DECUS succeeds at its mission. DECUS is unexcelled at generating information. In the course of a year, there is almost no relevant topic which will not be covered by either a DECUS symposium session, monthly newsletter article, or public-domain software submission. The statistics are staggering. A single national symposium will have 16 parallel sessions running day and night. Over 900 hours of formal sessions are scheduled in a five day period. The monthly newsletter resembles a medium size telephone book. The latest RSX compilation of public-domain software exceeds 40,000 disk blocks. This collection now joins the 20 previous sets collected since 1976. The total collection is now too large for the even the largest disk drive. The main problem you will have with "the exchange of information" is wading through the enormous volume to find the specific information you seek. DECUS is far better at organizing sessions or collecting software than it is at getting sessions written down on paper or cataloging software submissions. DECUS has the answers you seek, you simply have to learn the tricks on how to find them. DECUS is organized exactly how you would expect a Society of 45,000 programming professionals would be: a matrix of hundreds of groups which defies drawing s simple organization chart. Membership of any particular subgroup is usually a matter of showing up at meetings; leadership comes if you return for a third time. The different groups can be put into three categories: LUGs, SIGs, and national committees. LUGs ----- A LUG or Local User Group is usually your first contact with DECUS. A Local User Group is nothing more than a group of people in the same area who get together to exchange ideas. LUGs come in every shape and size. There is no fixed format for a LUG to follow, however, my Local User Group in St. Louis is probably typical of the LUGs in your area. We call ourselves SLLUG and target VAX and PDP-11 sites for membership. Another LUG in St. Louis handles Rainbows, DECmates, and PROfessional's.There are 250 names on our mailing list and a typical monthly meeting draws 25 to 50 attendees. When the LUG started in 1978, we rotated meeting sites. But in the last couple of years, the LUG has settled on a permanent meeting site. Cory Auditorium at the Washington University School of Medicine is centrally located, comfortable, and has complete audiovisual systems. We always meet on a Wednesday and start at 7:30 in the evening. Meetings always start with an open discussion time. This is a tradition we have had since our first meeting. We feel our main purpose for meeting is to answer people's questions. The open period usually brings out any serious bugs in the latest releases of VMS or RSX, questions and comments on third party hardware, and any other topic important to some attendee. The program starts around 8:15 and usually goes to 10:00 once all questions are answered. Topics cover the range of computing. Last month's speaker, Mike Truskowski from McDonnell Douglas, presented an overview of the MAP/TOP efforts. He was followed by Bob Tatum from the local Digital office who updated us on Digital's OSI and MAP/TOP product plans. Other topics this year include the new VAX processors, Ethernet installation, All-In-1, and DCL Command Procedures. Other LUG activities occur outside of the monthly meetings. The LUG has accumulated a fair number of the public-domain tape sets previously mentioned. The SLLUG librarian, chosen because of he has a system with three 1600/6250 tape drives, will make copies to tapes you supply and pick up. Our LUG, like other LUGs, is pretty much self-sufficient. We have very little contact with the national DECUS organization other than renewing our license once a year. Things appear to be changing as DECUS offers more and more services targeted to LUGs. The National LUG Organization, a recently formed US Chapter committee, is developing programs for LUGs. There is a video tape library of past symposia sessions, a speaker's bureau, and financial aid to pay for printing and mailing our meeting annoucements. SIGs ---- Once you become a DECUS member, your probably will start taking interest in a few SIGs or Special Interest Groups. SIGs are groups which are oriented to a particular application area or Digital product. There are 22 SIGs and it would no be unusual for someone to have an interest in ten or more. For instance, in the last year I have work in areas which touched the topics covered by the Data Acquistion, Analysis, Research, and Control (DAARC), Hardware Management (HMS), IAS, Languages and Tools, Large Systems, Networks, Personal Computer, RSX, UNISIG, and the VAX System SIG. Next year it would not surprise me to get into new areas covered by the other 12 SIGs: Artificial Intelligence, Business Applications, Commercial Languages, Data Management, Datatrieve, Education (EDUSIG), Graphics Applications, MUMPS, Office Automation, RSTS, RT-11, and Site Management and Training. No matter how wide your interest, most people will end up with what I call a "home SIG". Your home SIG is you major area of interest. For most people this will be the Special Interest Group which covers the operating system they use most. It is only natural that the VMS System SIG is the current largest SIG within DECUS. Your home SIG is probably where you will interact the most with DECUS at the national level. Almost all US Chapter activities are organized along the SIG boundaries. Each symposia session, newsletter article, and library submission is tied to a particular Special Interest Group. The "exchange of information" mentioned in the DECUS mission statement is organized by SIGs. My home SIG today is spread between VAX and Networks because these are my everyday concerns. But the RSX SIG will probably always be my sentimental home. RSX is where I met my friends. The most important aspect of DECUS, at both the LUG and SIG level, are the people you meet. DECUS gets you in touch with people who do the same thing you do for a living. This is human networking (see Bill Hancock's February 1986 column). At the local level, your LUG network helps you when someone mails you a 800 BPI tape and you only have a TS11 or helps you find temporary student help when an operator is hospitalized. In your home SIG, you meet people you have the same everyday problems you have in your job. You find not only one, but a room full of people, who understand you. I never realized the extent of people networking worked until I went on a four city business trip two years ago. I was traveling with a coworker from the IBM side of the house. We were visiting different PBX and data switch vendors. Every evening, instead of watching television in a hotel room, I visited friends from DECUS. When the schedule shifted and we had a free afternoon, I rung up a friend at Stanford and we took an impromptu tour of their data switch and LAN. While touring a vendor's machine room in San Diego, I recognized an acquaintance from DECUS symposia and got an in-depth look at the product. My traveling companion was left shaking his head. People are the best thing you bring away from a DECUS membership. Today I ran into a brick wall with the DEQNA Ethernet interface. Rather than spin my wheels, I contacted four people I know who have experience with the device. The problem is still open, but I now have the benefit of four expert's experiences and three new approaches to try in the morning. My people network is rooted in RSX. Like most first-timers, I sat on my hands and kept my mouth shut at my first DECUS symposium. I was keeping the same low profile at my second symposium when I wandered into a session and was drafted by Mark Lewis, founder of the RSX SIG, as chairman for the newly formed Software Performance Reports Working Group. I did not know it but I had just entered the network. Bill Hancocks's article gives all the details on how to develop your own people network. Your home SIG and LUG will supply the people. The key is for you to interact with other people, not just sit on the sideline. US Chapter -- ------- The last level of DECUS organizations are the various national committees. At the national level, the information exchange comes in three different forms: meetings, communications, and library. These activities cross SIG and LUG boundaries so national committees coordinate individual group efforts to produce a total package. The DECUS US Chapter Bylaws names three permanent governing bodies. At the top of the heap is the Board of Directors. This group of eight elected Chapter members and one appointed Digital Equipment representative set policy for the Society. A separate, appointed Management Council is charged with the management of the various operational units. The Leadership Development and Elections Committee is charged with nominating qualified members for the Board of Directors election and developing leadership for other positions. When you get involved with DECUS, you find the hard work is actually done by the US Chapter professional staff. The staff has all the enthusiasm of any DECUS volunteer and more work. The US Chapter currently has three national committees: Symposia, Communications, and Library. Committee membership comes from SIG appointees and other interested volunteers. These are the group of people who produce the activities you see when you look at DECUS: meetings, newsletters, and software. Symposia -------- DECUS's most visible event is its twice-a-year national symposia. In five packed days, every current technical, marketing, and management issue related to Digital Equipment is discussed in open sessions. Your only trick is figuring how to be in 15 places at one time. A DECUS symposium is literally an information explosion. Someone who diligently attends sesssions every hour of every day will still miss over 850 hours of sessions. Furthermore, formal sessions are only one part of symposium. There is the Digital exhibit hall, SIG campgrounds, Digital-sponsored suites, and pre-symposium seminars. Also, DEXPO exhibitions are usually held at the same time at some other location in the area. DEXPO provides free admission and shuttle bus service for DECUS attendees. I have been to 22 DECUS symposia and have mastered a few tricks-of-the-trade. My seven rules for a successful DECUS symposia are as follows: @@1. Meet people.@@@ Symposia is the best place to start your people network. I find the best place to meet people is the SIG campgrounds and suites. Each Special Interest Group has a room it calls its own. You can wander in, find an empty chair, and join in discussing whatever the current topic. @@2. Digital developers.@@@ One of the truely amazing happenings at a DECUS symposium is the chance to meet real, live Digital software engineers. You can get your questions answered straight from the person who wrote the code. Even better, you get a chance to buttonhole the manager who owns the project to which you want to add support for your favorite widget. If you come to DECUS with some critical full-duplex terminal driver problems, it might seem difficult to find one Digital developer in a crowd of 5,000, especially when you do not what the person looks like or even their name. But the problem is easier then it looks. Developers are always introduced at certain sessions such as the RSX Product Panel or Question and Answer session. You also will always find some developer on duty in the RSX section of the exhibit hall. This person can tell you when and where to find the expert you seek. @@3. Sit up front.@@@ DECUS sessions are given by people like yourself. They are not professional speakers and do not have slick, fancy graphics. You will get the most from a session be sitting up front where you can hear the speaker and easily see the screen. Also, you will end up with one of the 50 copies of notes the speaker brought for a session with 400 attendees. @@4. Keep an eye on the BOF schedule.@@@ A session scheduled right at the symposium is called a Birds-of-the-Feather or BOF session. Wandering in to a BOF session can turn out to be the highlight of your week. BOFs are the DECUS equivalent of a musician's jam sessions. The topics are timely and the loose format allows contributions from everyone. @@5. Use audio tapes for training.@@@ One of the more recent inovations at DECUS symposia are audio tapes of 90% of the sessions. The tapes are recorded and reproduced by firms which specialize in this business and are excellent quality. The audio tapes is a great way to turn yourself into ten people. When there is a schedule conflict, I can attend one session and buy the tapes of the sessions I had to miss. I use the audio tapes to train myself in new areas. This week I am studying the intricacy's of VMS paging and swapping while I drive to work. @@6. Eating on the fly.@@@ The session schedule has the annoying property of scheduling sessions through lunch and even dinner on Monday and Thursdays. But you can avoid the crowds if you know when to go to the lunch tent. Go late on Monday and Wednesday (12:30) and early on Tuesday and Thursday (11:30). Lunch is scheduled from 11:30 to 1:30 so on the first day, everyone goes at 11:30. On Tuesday, everyone who waited in line on Monday shows up late to miss the crowd. This flip flops continue for two more days. No one goes to lunch on Friday so there is no crowd (and usually the best food of the week). One more eating hint. DECUS serves great rolls. On days when you have evening sessions and no chance for supper, take some rolls with you. If you are lucky, lunch will have the fixings for sandwiches and you can make a sack lunch on the fly. Just make sure to bring a brown paper bag in your brief case. @@7. Attend regularly.@@@ My last hint is to keep coming back. By the time you come to your third symposium in a row you will find yourself plugged-in. You will be effective at collecting information and getting answers to your site's problems. Communications -------------- The Communications Committee is responsible for the written word within DECUS. DECUS publishes four types of literature: @@DECUSCOPE@@@. DECUSCOPE is the quarterly US Chapter newsletter. This publication is mailed automatically to all members. @@Proceedings@@@. DECUS publishes a collection of papers from each US Chapter national symposium. Proceedings are also available for the Australian, Canadian, and European symposia. Proceeding papers are people's best work and tend to concentrate on user applications. @@Session Notes.@@@ Prior to each symposium, each SIG collects session notes. These notes are usually a copy of the speaker's graphics and eliminate the need for extensive notetaking. Session notes are available to non-attendees through DECUSCOPE. The session notes are especially worthwhile for getting the most from audio tapes. @@SIGs Newsletters.@@@ DECUS publishes a monthly newsletter. Resembling medium size white telephone books, each volume is split in separate sections for each Special Interest Group. While the the SIGs Newsletters is a single publication, it is actually the work of 22 SIG newsletter editors. The material varies widely. For instance, the RSX section in the June 1986 issue had a transcript of the RSX Question and Answer Session from the Fall 1985 symposium, an application note on the use of the SPAWN directive, an explanation of the terminal driver hooks for ACD processing, and an tutorial on coverting RSX-11M device drivers to RSX-11M-Plus. The SIGs Newsletters is something you carefully file away after scanning from cover-to-cover. The RSX SIG is the granddaddy of SIG newsletters. More copies of its newsletter, the Multi-Tasker, have been distributed than all other newsletters combined. At its peak in 1981, DECUS printed and mailed 11,000 copies of the Multi-Tasker each month. Library ------- The last main activity area within DECUS is its library of public domain software. The current library has over 1200 programs and packages. While the programs are supplied in "as is" form, almost all submissions include sources and documentation. The DECUS library is only a small part of the total software collected and distributed by DECUS. The DECUS library, with its formal submission system and indexed catalog, is the place to find polished public-domain software. Software gems in the rough are found on the SIG tape collections made at each symposium and distributed through an informal LUG network setup by the National LUG Organization. Tape swapping has always been a part of the national symposia, but on an informal, one-on-one basis. Phil Cannon revolutionized the process in 1977 when he called all the RSX LUGs around the nation and got them to bring a copy of their local library to the San Diego symposium. Phil and a few other hardy souls then stayed three nights in a row. They produced a master tape and then made copies as fast as possible. The process is only slightly more refined today. There is a booth in the exhibit hall for people to drop off submissions and sign a form stating the software can legally be placed in the public domain. The tapes collected by the RSX SIG and a master tape staged at the symposium. The person in charge of the process takes the tape home for more work and sends a final master tape to the DECUS office. The DECUS office makes copies for each of the seven regional tape copy sites. Your local LUG simply sends some blank tapes to its regional copy site. When the copy is returned, it is duplicated for local distribution. In 4-6 months, the RSX SIG distributes over 50,000 blocks of software to hundreds of sites. This processed is duplicated for other SIGs such as RT-11, RSTS, and VAX. How to Join --- -- ---- The best time to join DECUS is now. Membership is open to everyone. DECUS costs no money to join. The easiest way to join is to circle number 124 on the Reader's Response card and the DEC* Professional will send your membership query on to DECUS for you. You can also contact DECUS directly at (617) 480-3283 or DECUS, 219 Boston Post Road, Marlboro, MA 01752 to get a membership application. There is still time to register for the next national DECUS Symposium. The Fall 1986 Symposium will be held in San Francisco from October 6 through 10. If prior commitments keep you away, plan for Nashville in the Spring.