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The Multi-Tasker
The Multi-Tasker, at the time it finally expired, was the longest running
newsletter in the U.S. DECUS chapter. It had brought current news about RSX
developments and user activities to the user community since January of 1974,
when it started as The RSX-11D SIG Newsletter.
During that time, The Multi-Tasker developed its own identity as
a publication for users of what was then the new RSX-11M operating system.
Bruce Mitchell took over as Editor of The Multi-Tasker from the
previous editor, Charles Goodpasture, and published regularly for almost
three years during a period we might charitably describe as the late summer
of the SIG. After turning the editorship over to Phil Hannay,
it became clear to (almost) everyone that the SIG was declining; The Multi-Tasker
fell on bad times and eventually disappeared along with the U.S. RSX
SIG.
If you find that the appearance of these documents is not esthetically
pleasing, remember that they were originally typed by hand or produced via
Runoff on low-quality printers. These machine-readable versions have been
formatted by hand to appear as close to the original form as possible while
cleaning up the type.
Individual Issue Contents
So far as the remaining members of the RSX SIG Steering
Committee know, no comprehensive index of The Multi-Tasker
was ever produced. This includes Ralph Stamerjohn, who
supposedly produced the non-existent index.
It has been claimed that the non-existent index was
produced on microfiche. However, no-one has ever been
able to find a copy of this purported index. It's
probable that there is confusion with Ralph
Stamerjohn's microfiche index of the SIG tapes; after
all, it has been over 15 years since the SIG was active.
A partial index was published in the 10th Anniversary issue. That
partial index represents
an heroic effort by Ralph Stamerjohn, and was current for the
issues he had through April, 1983. Another seven years passed,
and finally the SIG dissolved without further effort to produce
a complete and comprehensive index.
As issues are digitized, they are now read by the
increasingly crow-footed eyes of Bruce Mitchell, and
then added to this
individual
issue index
of The Multi-Tasker.
This performs two functions - first, it gives that
non-existent index some physical reality. Second,
it gets some keywords into the various search engines
so the people looking for help can perhaps find it.
How These Documents Are Produced
These documents have been digitized from the original sources, which in some
cases were machine-readable, and in other cases were ratty, gray
third-generation xerocopies. Errors may have crept in during
the transcription; caveat reader.
These documents are in Microsoft Word 6 for Windows
format. For info on why we use Word format, or how
to get a free viewer for your
system if you don't have Word, or if you are
having trouble downloading
document files, please see the document
reference page.
Some issues were printed using monospaced typefaces that are no
longer available, are copyrighted, were never converted to
TrueType®, etc. In these cases, the original
typefaces have been replaced with the TrueType®
"Monospaced" face. If you find that you need this
typeface to read an issue, you can
download
it here.
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There are a limited number of memento, perfect, unaddressed copies of
the 10th Anniversary issue of
The Multi-Tasker
autographed by both Ralph Stamerjohn, the super-user, and Dennis
Brevik, architect of RSX-15. Want one? Money won't buy it.
But you might make an offer
of something nice or DEC-historically significant.
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The Multi-Tasker By Year
-
If a year number is in green, all published issues for
that year are available.
-
If a month name is in italics, no issue was published
that month.
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For content listing, see the
individual
issue index
of The Multi-Tasker
1974
January
1975
May
1976
December
1977
November
1978
May,
August,
September,
October,
November
1979
January,
February,
March
1980
1981
1982
1983
October (10th Anniversary)
1984
January,
July,
August,
October,
November,
December
1985
January,
February,
March,
April,
May,
June,
July,
September,
December
1986
March,
April,
May,
June,
July,
September,
October,
November,
December
1987
January,
February,
March,
April,
May,
June,
July,
August,
September,
October,
November,
December
1988
February,
April,
August, September,
October,
November,
December
1989
January,
February,
March,
April,
May,
June,
July,
August,
September,
October,
November,
December
1990
January, February,
March,
April,
May,
June, July, August,
September,
October,
November,
December
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