[Info-vax] OT: Elephants Can't Dance

[Arne Vajhøj]

Richard B. Gilbert wrote:
> Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>> Glen Herrmannsfeldt wrote:
>>> Neil Rieck wrote:
>>>> As others have pointed out elsewhere, maybe OpenVMS should be put into
>>>> the public domain under the GPL (general public license). 
>>>
>>> What should it be called?  OpenOpenVMS?  Open(really this time)VMS?
>>
>> That does not sound too well.
>>
>> Which leaves:
>>   OpenVMS Community Edition for the free one
>>   OpenVMS Enterprise Edition for the one HP would still sell support for

> If it's "in the public domain" you don't NEED a license!

Yep. I noted that myself in another reply.

> HP could try Sun's business model for Solaris.  The software is free; 
> O/S and development tools.  Support costs money.
> 
> As a hobbyist, I must either find and fix the problems myself or hope 
> that some paying customer will encounter the same problem I have and 
> will pay for a solution.
> 
> By making the O/S and development tools freely available, they encourage 
> people to write software for the Sun Solaris platform.  They don't say 
> "you must", they simply make the software available for download.  It 
> may take years to see how this is going to work out, or not.  The Sun 
> model makes at least as much sense, to me, as any of the others!

Well - it would not make fewer write software for VMS.

But I don't think it would many more write software for VMS.

Two indications:
* Hobbyist license allow work on open source (AFAIK), but there does
   not seem to be huge number of hobbyist porting open source to VMS
* Solaris is not doing that well

Arne