[Info-vax] RMS record metadata, was: Re: Re; Spiralog, RMS Journaling (was Re: FREESPADRIFT)

[Stephen Hoffman]

On 2016-06-19 02:48:33 +0000, David Froble said:

> lawrencedo99 at gmail.com wrote:
>> 
>> Hands up all those who think RMS should die already...
> 
> Perhaps you are ready to re-write billions of dollars of existing software?
> 
> Why cannot the old and new co-exist?

That works for a while, but then you still have to update and test and 
maintain the old stuff, and there's a non-trivial and increasing cost 
to that effort.

You often end up putting in place workarounds, and which almost always 
hamper new adoptions and new development, too.

If there are sufficiently good reasons and sufficient incentives to 
migrate, then the old code will migrate across.

If not, then there were problems — whether technical or incentives or 
ease-of-migration or otherwise — with the new code, or your customers 
are underfunded and/or understaffed and/or are focused elsewhere.

Assuming that you didn't screw up the new code bits somehow and did 
deliver substantial improvements, then those folks that aren't moving 
forward and aren't updating their tools are a completely different 
business and different business model, with different expectations.  
This is where (and why) long-term-support products are offered. by some 
vendors  Though those always age out, too.

But in this case, RMS isn't ever going away on OpenVMS, if for no 
reason other than that it's far too entrenched in the operating system 
and tools.  It'd be nice to see some file system defaults change (e.g. 
not defaulting to creating VFC), and better and simpler file system 
alternatives becoming available.  But RMS works.  (If VSI did ever 
replace RMS, ODS-2 and ODS-5 and related bits with truly modern 
alternatives and with more modern programming interfaces, it'd approach 
— or would effectively be — a completely different operating system.)


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