[Info-vax] HP adds OpenVMS Mature Product Support beyond the end of Standard Support

[Paul Sture]

Bill Gunshannon wrote:

> In article <kulqra-7pb.ln1 at news.chingola.ch>,
> 	Paul Sture <nospam at sture.ch> writes:
>> Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>> 
>>> In article <00AE0137.963FA012 at sendspamhere.org>,
>>> 	VAXman-  @SendSpamHere.ORG writes:
>>>
>>>> OpenVMS was rather well documented in the Books of Ruth.  I don't recall
>>>> there being anything in those wonderful tomes that precluded anyone from
>>>> using that information in any way.  Copyright only covers the expression
>>>> of the information and not the information itself.  Some bits of VMS have
>>>> patent protection but those can be easily researched and then avoided if
>>>> they're *still* in force.  Considering the age of VMS, I'd wager very few
>>>> othose are still in force WRT 35USC154.
>>>
>>> The guy I was replying to was talking about having the fiche.  Or are
>>> you going to say HP has no rights over that?  And JF was calling on
>>> the knowledge of former employees. Copyright also covers derivitive
>>> works.  You can't take VMS source, change all the variable names and
>>> claim it's no longer HP's.  And "trade secrets" is the worst of all
>>> because pretty much anything that has not been freely published by
>>> the IP owner can be claimed as a "trade secret".
>>>
>> 
>> Well Cutler had that sort of knowledge and then some.
>> 
>> DEC didn't seem to care and even encouraged MS, both giving them source
>> code and encouraging us to adopt NT.
>> 
>> If I am correct in my theory that HP wants out of the OS business they
>> might actually be quite amenable to a proposal that helps them achieve
>> that goal.
>
> Well, I hope you guys are right.  Contrary to popular belief, I am  not
> anti-VMS.  I don't think it's the best thing since sliced bread but I 
> do think it was valuable and had a definite place in the IT world.  And,
> I think it's demise will be a great loss to the industry as a whole.
>
> But, I guess I have been a cynic for so long I tend to see all the things
> that can gr wrong with plans in IT.  Probably too much risk assessment in
> my background.  You know where yo have to pick out all the possible things
> that can go wrong and mitigate them before hand.
>
> I guess only time will tell.  But I still don't plan on holding my
> breath waiting for the Open Source version of VMS.  Hey....  The
> Open might actually find a place in front of VMS at that point.

Oh crap.  I show a brief bit of optimism and you bring me back to
doom and gloom.

"We're Doomed, Emtombed and Marooned"

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7RIgs3eygo>

-- 
If you make it well enough, you give it immortality.” -- Ernest Hemingway