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GAZETTE
JULY/AUGUST 1990
around visiting on each application
doing all the work required of each
user.
MS-DOS works differently. It was
designed as a single user system
with only one application program
in memory at any one time. This
means that if you want to run word
processing and accounts at the
same t ime you require t wo
computers. It means that if you
have a legal precedent on one
computer it is not available to
" . . . on a UN I X computer . . .
all programs are in memory at
the same time."
someone on another computer
unless it is copied from one to the
other by means of a floppy disk.
Single user PCs have serious
disadvantages in a legal office
when it comes to office integration,
as a user's work is 'marooned' on
his computer. However, they have
one great advantage - they are
very much cheaper and systems of
working can be developed in an
office to reduce if not overcome the
integration problems.
One man's problem is another
man's opportunity. The solution to
this isolation problem was NET-
WORKING. Digital Equ i pment
Corporation (DEC) was one of the
first to do this with its very popular
PDP and VAX range of mini
computers and others used the
idea for the PC. With the most
straight-forward networking sys-
tem you have a central computer
which stores all the data called a
"FILE SERVER". You then link each
PC to the file server. Data on the file
server can now be shared by all PCs
linked to the file server.
From a user's point of view there
is no real difference between a
networking system and a UNIX
system as the operating system is
transparent to the user. This means
that the user, for example a typist,
only sees the word processing
package and rarely sees anything of
the operating system. However, the
main difference between the two is
that the networking system has a
vastly superior choice of software.
This is beause it is MS-DOS based
and there are literally millions of
MS-DOS users all over the world.
In general, any program that runs
on MS-DOS will run on a network.
. . . the ma in d i f ference
between the two is that the
networking system has a vastly
superior choice of software."
If you require t wo users to use the
same data concurrently, purchase
the multi-user or ne t wo r k i ng
version of the package. If this is not
a requirement, you can use the
single user version happily without
any problems.
It is not correct to say that an
MS-DOS based ne t wo r k i ng
system does not handle file and
record locking. This problem
only occurs when t wo or more
people try to use a single user
version of a program designed
for use on a single PC (like Lotus
123) on a network. Most soft-
ware companies now provide
both a single user and a multi-
user verison of the programs.
However, single user versions
can be used by several people
only if one person is allowed to
use it at a time. If this can't be
done you must purchase a multi-
user version of the package.
Solicitors Golfing Society
Spring Meeting - Captains Prize
The Spring Mee t i ng of the
Society was held at Portmarnock
Golf Club, Dublin, on Friday the
18th of May 1990.
Unfortunately, because of tight
restrictions on numbers, it was
not possible to accommodate all
who wished to play; nonetheless,
there was a full turnout and
seventy members of the Society
competed for the Captain's Prize.
The results were as follows: —
Captains Prize:
Noel Tanham
Winner - Kevin Byrne
(nine)
38 points
Runnerup - Patrick Reidy
(eight)
36 points
Third Prize - Cyril Osborne
(fourteen)
36 points
St. Patricks Plate:
(12 & under)
Winner - Owen O'Brien
(eight)
35 points
Runnerup - Tom Shaw
(five)
34 points
Handicaps 13 and Over:
Winner - Frank Johnson
(13)
35 points
Runnerup - Noel Smyth
(15)
34 points
First Nine:
James Walsh
19 points
Second Nine:
Paul Connellan 20 points
RICHARD BENNETT,
HON. SECRETARY
224