[Info-vax] VMS Software Partners with Stark Gaming to Create Revolutionary Online Gaming and eSport Server Infrastructure

[Keith Parris]

On 8/5/2015 8:11 PM, IanD wrote:
> It would also be interesting to know if HP actually did
 > any preliminary work in the past on moving OpenVMS to x86
 > or whether VSI are indeed working from scratch...

As Clair has pointed out in the past, much of the work done as part
of the Itanium port will make it easier to move OpenVMS to x86, such
as the ELF image and DWARF debugging file formats, which he said
probably doubled the effort to port to Itanium compared with
continuing to use proprietary OpenVMS file formats.

SoftWare Interrupt Services (SWIS) also comes to mind, as it moves
OpenVMS-specific features like IPL Levels and ASTs out of hardware
(VAX) or firmware (PAL on Alpha) into the operating system itself.

So some of the investments wise engineers and managers at HP have
made in the past are paying off for the future.

Some of us within HP who believed moving OpenVMS beyond its
historical dependence on proprietary architectures to x86 and/or other
(truly) industry-standard architecture(s) was its only hope of a future 
participated in discussions and such. I know of no formal project(s).