[Info-vax] OT: Rob Short: Operating System Evolution

[Richard B. Gilbert]

John Wallace wrote:
> On Jan 6, 10:55 pm, "Richard B. Gilbert" <rgilber... at comcast.net>
> wrote:
>> John Wallace wrote:
>>> On Jan 6, 4:50 am, "Richard B. Gilbert" <rgilber... at comcast.net>
>>> wrote:
>>>> Bob Koehler wrote:
>>>>> In article <oe6dnbsExJlqqtzWnZ2dnUVZ_uCdn... at giganews.com>, "Richard B. Gilbert" <rgilber... at comcast.net> writes:
>>>>>> I wouldn't expect ANY word processor to be a huge success on VMS.  It's
>>>>>> damned difficult to run a WYSIWYG processor on a system that natively
>>>>>> can output only ASCII text.  You can run it on a workstation but I think
>>>>>> it's a great deal cheaper to run it on a PC.
>>>>>    Why in the world do you think VMS "can output only ASCII text"?  I've
>>>>>    been using other data formats on VMS since 1980.
>>>> Which tools in VMS (not layered products) output selectable fonts and
>>>> selectable type sizes?  I can do a lot with TeX and LaTeX but that's not
>>>> native VMS.
>>> Let's assume that you consider DECwindows Motif not a layered product.
>>> Is that OK?
>> No, it's not OK!  It's a layered product, separately licensed and, of
>> course, expensive!  If the license had not been included with my Alpha
>> Station 200 I couldn't afford it!
> 
> "Separately licensed ... expensive"
> "Included with my AlphaStation"
> 
> You want it both ways, best of luck with that.
> 

I don't want it "both ways"!  I was simply observing that commercial 
licenses, as opposed to hobbyist licenses, cost a great deal of money.
My Alphastation came with VMS, and NAS-150 (I think it was 150. . . .)

If I had picked my system out of a dumpster and had to buy the suite of 
licenses I would not be able to afford them.  I think a FORTRAN license
would cost me something like $1500-$2000 if I had to pay list price.

There are special pricing programs for hobbyists and developers but it's 
not quite the same as having licenses that are unrestricted and good 
until the system hits the dumpster.