[Info-vax] HDF5 going going, perhaps soon gone from VMS?

[Dirk Munk]

Dirk Munk wrote:
> IanD wrote:
>> HDF5 is a total rework of HDF4 to the point where HDF5 should be
>> considered a new work altogether, in fact the custodians of the HDF
>> data format say they wished they had not even used HDR5 as the new
>> name given that there is nothing between the two other than a
>> sequential name in terms of the underlining structure
>>
>> It also seems HDF5 is gaining ground out there in the scientific world
>> (this is coming from the Scipy crowd etc)
>>
>> Once upon a time VMS had some stature in the scientific world but
>> alas, it gave up that title long ago :-(
>>
>> Now it seems, in HDF5 circles anyway, that VMS is to be (or has been)
>> erased from the source code
>>
>> http://lists.hdfgroup.org/pipermail/hdf-forum_lists.hdfgroup.org/2015-March/008397.html
>>
>>
>> So, if it is not too late and you care and use HDF5 or think it's a
>> good thing to retain for VMS going forward then perhaps you might want
>> to get in contact with the folks at HDF to stop 'VMS' being purged
>> from the source code
>>
>
>  From this link:
>
> ftp://www.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/current/src/unpacked/release_docs/RELEASE.txt
>
> - VMS Build/Test Files Have Been Removed
>
> HDF5 no longer supports VMS, and the files were getting out of date.
> Since we have no access to a VMS machine, there is no way for us to
> maintain them.
>
> A Subversion tag was created at:
>
> https://svn.hdfgroup.uiuc.edu/tags/vms_last_support_1_8
>
> immediately before removing the files.
>
> (DER - 2015-02-26, HDFFV-9147

Supplying groups like these with free VMS Itaniums is a bit difficult. 
But couldn't VSI set up an online software development server for 
projects like these? VSI could set up a complete environment for HDF, 
set up accounts etc. as a kind of service. They could offer some support 
for VMS specific questions etc. Projects returning or staying on VMS is 
always good news I suppose.