[Info-vax] VMS Software, Inc. Acquires All OpenVMS Support Business from Hewlett Packard Enterprise

[Hans Bachner]

Simon Clubley schrieb am 25.10.2019 um 19:09:
> On 2019-10-25, Dave Froble <davef at tsoft-inc.com> wrote:
>> On 10/25/2019 9:25 AM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>
>>> We just signed support contracts for our Alphas.
>>> There were no specific license fees. And the right
>>> to use for x86-64 is included. Don't know if that
>>> is different for IA64...
>>
>> Ok Jan-Erik, you've already typed the above, but, I can be a bit slow,
>> so, can you be very specific?  Are you saying that by having a support
>> contract, you have the right to use VSI VMS?  That there are no license
>> fees?  Yes, you mentioned Alpha.  I'd hope other architectures would
>> also be the same.
>>
> 
> That's what I would be interested in knowing as well.
> 
> One of the major complaints around here has been that VSI forced you
> to buy your licences again when you moved to VSI VMS.
> 
> If VSI have stopped doing that, then I think that's a good thing because
> it's one less barrier in the way when thinking about moving from HPE VMS
> to VSI VMS.

This is a special offer for OpenVMS Alpha users: buy (at least) three 
years of support and you get the VSI licenses without additional cost. 
Just like with the student kit, there are only two licenses: one for the 
OS and one for _all_ the Layered Products.

If you use OpenVMS IA64, you need to trade in your existing licenses for 
a reduced price.

In both cases, a support contract for three or more years includes the 
right to upgrade to V9.x, including the platform change to x86.

>> That still leaves the question of non-commercial use of VMS without
>> support an open issue.
>>
> 
> We are getting close to the time when HPE are going to stop offering
> hobbyist licences. It would be nice to get some ideas from VSI about
> what their hobbyist program is going to look like and when we might
> see it.

This is an interesting question indeed.

The announcement of the transfer of all HPE support contracts to VSI is 
missing some important details, like:

- is VSI allowed to create patches for HPE OpenVMS versions (V8.4 and 
earlier) now?
- is VSI allowed to issue (hobbyist) PAKs for HPE OpenVMS versions an 
all three architectures, i.e. PAKs with a producer HP or DEC?

Hans.