[Info-vax] HPE support still issuing new V/I64 V8.4 patches beyond Q1/2017?

[Stephen Hoffman]

On 2018-08-03 17:34:38 +0000, Rod Regier said:

> Can anyone comment on whether Hewlett Package Enterprise OpenVMS 
> Sustaining Engineer have been issuing new OpenVMS/I64 V8.4 patches 
> since Q1 2017 for their contract customers?
> 
> I was reviewing whether there is value in renewing a software support 
> agreement with HPE with emphasis on new patch availability.
> 
> I'm presuming that if I purchased an OpenVMS support agreement from VSI 
> the only binaries they could supply me would be for VSI licensed 
> versions of OpenVMS/I64.

In no particular order...

VSI provides patches for VSI releases and not for the HPE releases, yes.

If you purchased a new HPE Integrity server with Poulson or Kittson 
Itanium processors, you could purchase software and support through HPE 
as a reseller.

You can purchase VSI releases and support for the HPE Poulson and 
Kittson systems, and for additional and older Itanium and Alpha systems 
directly from VSI.

Pragmatically, HPE is increasingly irrelevant to OpenVMS.   The folks 
at HPE are continuing to deliver on their roadmap to exit the OpenVMS 
business.   This as the HPE reps themselves have directly commented.

In May 2018, the front-line support team for HPE OpenVMS was the most 
recent transition.  VSI then hired eight of those same folks.  VSI now 
handles both VSI and HPE L1 and L2 support.  L3 support is apparently 
still at HPE for the HPE OpenVMS V8.4 release, and is at VSI for the 
VSI releases.

As for what's available for the supported HPE release, with a support 
contract?  I wouldn't expect to see more than the occasional UPDATE 
patch for OpenVMS from HPE and maybe a few point patches, as a general 
patch distribution.  I'd also expect to be able to log calls for and 
acquire additional one-off patches from HPE.  That's been the trend for 
several years now, too.  (And you'll be chatting with VSI when you log 
those calls for HPE support, too.)

Based on a quick look, the published SSL1 kit available from HPE is 
based on 1.0.2L, which is a year or so and three releases of OpenSSL 
1.0.2 back, and there've been no releases of the subsequent OpenSSL 
1.1.0 nor 1.1.1 series releases made available from HPE.  The HPE 
Apache web server port is substantially older than the VSI Apache port, 
too.

A VSI rep indicated that VSI was offering some sort of educational 
licensing, but that required direct contact with the VSI folks.  
Contact was info@ the usual VSI domain.  There's been no discussions of 
that in a while, though.

Some years ago, VSI was also indicating hobbyist licensing was planned, 
but there've been no further discussions of that over the last several 
years.

AFAIK, the CSLG program ended over a decade ago, though there are still 
references to that around the HPE web site.

Though the agreements do differ, the HPE educational licenses are the 
same as the hobbyist licenses in at least one regard; both lack patch 
access, outside of what UPDATE might get incorporated within the FTP 
kit downloads.

It wouldn't surprise me to see the HPE educational and/or hobbyist 
programs end on little or no notice.

The most reliable approach is to purchase licenses.  The next best 
approach is to check directly with the VSI folks, as policies and plans 
and product offerings do occasionally change.  Find out what their 
current educational and hobbyist plans might be.

TL;DR: VSI is your path forward.  Not HPE.



-- 
Pure Personal Opinion | HoffmanLabs LLC