VAX

computer /vaks/ (Virtual Address eXtensio) The most

successful minicomputer design in industry history, possibly

excepting its immediate ancestor, the PDP-11. Between its

release in 1978 and its eclipse by killer micros after about

1986, the VAX was probably the hacker's favourite machine,

especially after the 1982 release of 4.2BSD Unix.

Especially noted for its large, assemblycode-programmer-friendly instruction set - an asset that

became a liability after the RISC revolution.

VAX is also a British brand of carpet cleaner whose advertising slogan, "Nothing

sucks like a VAX!" became a battle-cry of RISC partisans. It

is even sometimes claimed that DEC actually entered a

licencing deal that allowed them to market VAX computers in

the UK in return for not challenging the carpet cleaner

trademark in the US.

The slogan originated in the late 1960s as "Nothing sucks like

Electrolux", Electrolux AB being a rival Swedish company. It

became a classic textbook example of the perils of not knowing

the local idiom, which is ironic because, according to the

Electrolux press manager in 1996, the double entendre was

intentional. VAX copied the slogan in their promotions in

1986-1987, and it surfaced in New Zealand TV ads as recently

as 1992!

[Jargon File]

(2000-09-28)