VAX
       Virtual Address eXtension (DEC, VAX)

	

	VAX
 /vaks/, n.

    1. [from Virtual Address eXtension] 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 favorite machine of
    them all, esp. after the 1982 release of 4.2 BSD Unix (see BSD).
    Especially noted for its large, assembler-programmer-friendly instruction
    set ? an asset that became a liability after the RISC revolution.

    It is worth noting that the standard plural of VAX was ?vaxen? and that VAX
    system operators were sometimes referred to as ?vaxherds?

    2. A major brand of vacuum cleaner in Britain. Cited here because its sales
    pitch, ?Nothing sucks like a VAX!? became a sort of battle-cry of RISC
    partisans. It is even sometimes claimed that DEC actually entered a
    cross-licensing deal with the vacuum-Vax people that allowed them to market
    VAX computers in the U.K. in return for not challenging the vacuum cleaner
    trademark in the U.S.

    A rival brand actually pioneered the slogan: its original form was ?Nothing
    sucks like Electrolux?. It has apparently become a classic example (used in
    advertising textbooks) of the perils of not knowing the local idiom. But in
    1996, the press manager of Electrolux AB, while confirming that the company
    used this slogan in the late 1960s, also tells us that their marketing
    people were fully aware of the possible double entendre and intended it to
    gain attention.

    And gain attention it did ? the VAX-vacuum-cleaner people thought the
    slogan a sufficiently good idea to copy it. Several British hackers report
    that VAX's promotions used it in 1986--1987, and we have one report from a
    New Zealander that the infamous slogan surfaced there in TV ads for the
    product in 1992.

	

	VAX

    /vaks/ (Virtual Address eXtension) 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, assembly
   code-programmer-friendly instruction set - an asset that
   became a liability after the RISC revolution.

   VAX is also a British brand of carpet cleaner
   (http://vax.co.uk/) 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)