[Info-vax] A possible platform for VMS?

[Dirk Munk]

Kerry Main wrote:
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Info-vax [mailto:info-vax-bounces at info-vax.com] On Behalf Of
>> Stephen Hoffman
>> Sent: 01-Mar-15 1:11 PM
>> To: info-vax at info-vax.com
>> Subject: Re: [New Info-vax] A possible platform for VMS?
>>
>> On 2015-03-01 17:41:52 +0000, johnwallace4 at yahoo.co.uk said:
>>
>>> Windows may well be acceptable for lots of outfits. VMS was in that
>>> position once, but times changed.
>>
>> Windows solves the problems — bugs and all — that a whole lot of folks
>> have.
>>
>> Most folks buy computer systems to do work, and security is secondary
>> to that, after all.
>>
>>> The same could happen to MS. Much
>>
>> And already has, if you include mobile and tablet devices in the
>> population of client devices in use.
>>
>>> as it happened to Apple (and then a miracle occured).
>>
>> A whole lot of focus, a whole lot of work on products, and a whole lot of
>> "no".
>>
>> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh_9Wwx43r4>.
>>
>> More than a little of what's been discussed here in comp.os.vms will be
>> getting a "no" from VSI, too.
>>
>>> At the risk of getting repetitive again, one size does not necessarily
>>> fit all (not in a sensible world anyway).
>>
>> At the risk of being entirely too repetitive myself, please provide a
>> better alternative.
>>
>
> A flash from the past - time to back to basics.
>
> Windows is a thick client model. In the days of expensive and unreliable
> networks, that model worked well. It is well known the huge Mgmt
> costs, complexity and security challenges this thick client distributed
> model has.
>
> Imho, with 10MB+ Inet connectivity becoming common place to homes,
> And 1GbE to work desks, a better model is a secure thin client accessing
> files on a private (internal shared services) or external cloud (not
> necessarily public).
>
> With this model -
> - patches applied to the thin client whenever the user connects (can
> be optional or mandatory)
> - back end uses clustering so that patches can be applied with zero
> service availability impact.
>
> Even gamers are starting to look at this model as the fat clients are
> constantly being hacked and the games are becoming much less fun
> for many users.
>
> Google is already getting quite a few converts to their hosted docs
> and email offerings - including many universities.
>
> Imho, with the exception of some heavy duty design / graphics use
> cases, the thick client days are numbered.
>
> Perhaps OpenVMS based thin client on cheap x86 is a future option?
>
> :-)
>

Over 20 years ago I had a remote booting Vaxstation, so what's new about 
this concept?