[Info-vax] New OpenSSL update from HP

[David Froble]

Dirk Munk wrote:
> RobertsonEricW wrote:
>> This is precisely what the Open Source on OpenVMS group is attempting 
>> to facilitate through its efforts to port to OpenVMS the basic GNU 
>> tools necessary for building the most frequently used GNU tools and to 
>> start creating the infrastructure to automatically build and test the 
>> current builds of GNU Software. Effort has been admittedly sluggish to 
>> materialize over the course of the last few years.  However, given 
>> that the time and effort generated thus far has been almost entirely 
>> on a volunteer basis, this is not that surprising. However, with VSI 
>> and other participants now beginning to take an interest, the number 
>> of active volunteers is now on the increase. This should help to 
>> quicken the pace of porting some of the critical tools to OpenVMS 
>> which should in turn solidify the usefulness of the GNV environment in 
>> producing further, maintainable ports of Open Source tools and 
>> utilities. It is hoped that in the future, the solidification of GNV 
>> will lessen the occurrence for some of
> these one-off ports  from multiple quarters (of which these different 
> and  more recent ports of OpenSSL are but one example).
>>
> 
> I get your point, and in general that is fine. However with SSL it is 
> another matter. It's a vital part of TCP/IP security, and it should be 
> maintained by HP, or now VSI. I would like to see top quality 
> professional programmers working on this. It should be just like any 
> other VMS software product from HP/VSI.
> 
> I will even go further than that. We can ask ourselves if an OpenSSL 
> port is the best way for a VMS SSL product. Other companies have 
> developed their own SSL package, and I can imagine that a native VMS SSL 
> package would be a better and more effective piece of software.

They'd probably still write it in C.  What would be the gain?

Now, I'm guessing, and I'd hope to be wrong.  If VSI wrote a VMS SSL 
product, would the design everyone uses be available?  What I'm asking 
is, "is there a specification?".  If not, then as usual, it's just some 
C code you need to figure out.

If there was a specification, then keeping a VMS based product up to 
date should be doable.