[Info-vax] Latest Hobbyist license with VSI 8.4-2 problem

[Scott Dorsey]

Phillip Helbig (undress to reply) <helbig at asclothestro.multivax.de> wrote:
>In article <p3qd46$qhk$1 at dont-email.me>, "Craig A. Berry"
><craigberry at nospam.mac.com> writes: 
>
>> There's nothing strange about a small team with massive amounts of work
>> to do making the free version of their product something less than top
>> priority. Some time after v8.5 and v9.0 are out and the licenses for the
>> x86_64 field test kits are about to expire, then VSI really needs to
>> start their own hobbyist program if they want one to exist.
>
>On the other hand, hobbyist users can find bugs which enterprise users 
>can't or won't, especially if they have access to patches.  This is 
>essentially free field- and beta-testing for VSI.

This is true but... do we really want to spend _any_ effort into updates
and upgrades for the Itanium version of anything?  

I can see a reason for people keeping a vax today... I can see a reason for
people keeping an Alpha today... but I have a hard time finding any good
reason to keep an Itanium machine around once an x86 port becomes available.

Let's face it, the Itanium was a giant mistake.  I understand how the wide
word architecture seemed like a good idea at the time, and I am glad that
someone tried it, but I am also glad that someone was not me.

Spend the effort not on supporting Itanium but on getting people off of it
as quickly as possible.

I agree that hobbyist users are powerful aids in finding bugs, especially
the weird ones that don't turn up in normal use cases.  That being the case,
I strongly suggest a hobbyist x86 version would be a great benefit to all
of us.  Spend effort on that, not on the Itanium.
--scott
-- 
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."