[Info-vax] BASIC compiler in the hobbyist distribution

[lists at openmailbox.org]

On Fri, 29 May 2015 11:02:05 -0400
Stephen Hoffman via Info-vax <info-vax at rbnsn.com> wrote:

> On 2015-05-29 13:31:21 +0000, lists at openmailbox.org said:
> 
> > ... deletia...
> 
> Looking out ten or fifteen years...
> 
> ...picking the OpenVMS porting target of either x86-64 or some other 
> architecture, POWER is the much bigger gamble, and with far fewer 
> hardware options available.  VSI has already stated x86-64 is the 
> target, and that there are future considerations around ARM.

Yes, yes, we've already been over this. Neither of us is going to change
the other's mind.

> ...There are certainly good technical reasons why folks might or will 
> prefer POWER or some other architecture over x86-64 — but in the end, 
> anybody providing an operating system product still has to make the 
> financial case work.  Very few vendors have the cash to compete head-on 
> with Intel and survive.

Even fewer have the cash to compete head on with Linux on Intel and survive.

> ...looking for customer ports from AIX or another Unix to OpenVMS is 
> not going to have enough of a sales volume to matter.  Not up front, 
> and not without a whole lot of open source on OpenVMS.   AIX is much 
> more likely to port elsewhere — I won't confuse the discussion with any 
> further references to more likely but-unlikely porting targets — if an 
> AIX customer does decide to port.  Again, this was the core of my 
> comments intended for seasoned_geek.

My suggestion of porting to POWER was not to steal AIX customers. AIX
customers aren't going anywhere. If they did go somewhere it would be to
Linux on POWER. My point is only that VMS needs a premium and possibly
bespoke hardware platform to stay viable.

There are plenty of new businesses starting all the time. It's not about
trying to move customers from one platform to another. There will be plenty
of brand new business for VMS if they have a premium offering. If they have
a commodity offering on Intel then Linux on Intel will blot it out.


> ...As much as technical arguments are interesting, it's the financials 
> and the financial trends that matter to commercial providers.  If the 
> finances don't work out, the technical arguments are irrelevant.   The 
> projects and products and services are disbanded.

That's the basis for my comments. You can't beat a free "OS" running on
cheap hardware with a better, more expensive OS running on cheap hardware.
You have to either get down in the mud and out-cheap the other guy or you
have to be in a totally different neighborhood, jack up the price, and make
a business out of that.

Soon enough we will see which view was correct.

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