[Info-vax] OT: news from the trenches (re: Solaris)

[David Froble]

Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> In article <443c019e-4508-4efb-a475-e56153bebd12 at googlegroups.com>,
> 	johnson.eric at gmail.com writes:
>> On Wednesday, March 11, 2015 at 5:18:34 PM UTC-4, johnwa... at yahoo.co.uk wrote:
>>  
>>> Not saying it will happen, just saying it's a possibility which makes
>>> predicting the future even harder than it used to be.
>> Circumstances like that have always existed. That's really not new. The near
>> term future isn't that structurally different that the futures of the past.
>>
>> And I believe that the possibility of an upcoming "death of x86" is greatly
>> exaggerated especially when compared to the Alpha.
>>
> 
> That's funny.  Two months before the Alphacide the exact same would have
> (and was here) been said about Alpha.
> 
> bill
> 

It's all about volume, and it's not us in IT that determine volume 
anymore.  It's the tablet and smart (and dumb) phone users who determine 
volume.

What it comes down to is that there is always a need and use for VMS and 
it's ilk, but the usage in the total volume is down to the noise (or 
below) level.  When that happens, it's hard to find vendors willing to 
satisfy the "noise market".  Now, that's a real problem, because that 
"need" isn't going away, and it involves some rather important tasks.

I don't have any answers.  For VMS in the near future, it seems the only 
answer is x86.  Beyond that, who knows.  One thing is certain, the 
ability of doing a fast, easy, and inexpensive port just might be a very 
good capability to have.