[Info-vax] VMS Software needs to port VAX DIBOL to OpenVMS X86 platform

[mceculski2 at gmail.com]

On Wednesday, December 16, 2020 at 1:16:44 PM UTC-5, Steve Ives wrote:
> On Wednesday, December 16, 2020 at 5:47:39 AM UTC-8, Simon Clubley wrote:
> > On 2020-12-15, Steve Ives <steve... at gmail.com> wrote: 
> > > 
> > > Just a quick note to point out that the content of this post is inaccurate. 
> > > 
> > > My name is Steve Ives, and I work for Synergex as the Synergy/DE Product 
> > > Manager. We are indeed currently reviewing whether to port Synergy/DE to 
> > > OpenVMS on x86, but no decision has yet been made. For the past ten months, 
> > > we have been actively engaged with our many OpenVMS customers, both ISV's 
> > > and end-users alike, making sure that they are fully aware of the 
> > > significant changes taking place in the OpenVMS market place and community, 
> > > helping them to understand their many options, and trying to judge demand 
> > > for a Synergy/DE port to OpenVMS on the x86 platform. 
> > > 
> > > We at Synergex are proud of our long-standing involvement with and 
> > > service to the OpenVMS development community, but we are a business and can 
> > > only invest in porting our products to new platforms if there is sufficient 
> > > commercial demand for us to do so. Unfortunately, at the current time, 
> > > there appears to be very little demand. But this is not a done deal; 
> > > discussions are still taking place, both internally and with our customers. 
> > > OpenVMS is still an important part of our business, and we remain fully 
> > > committed to delivering exceptional service to our many valued customers in 
> > > that space. 
> > >
> > Interesting. You say that VMS is still important to you and that you 
> > have many VMS customers, but that there is very little demand for running 
> > Synergy on x86-64 VMS. 
> > 
> > Do you know why that is ? Was there initial demand but it died off as 
> > the VMS on x86-64 port took longer and longer to complete ? 
> > 
> > And before people jump on me for asking that, just remember that VMS 
> > currently only runs in production use on obsolete or soon to be obsolete 
> > architectures. That by itself is enough to make some people uncomfortable 
> > regardless of the merits of VMS itself, especially given that VMS on x86-64 
> > for production use is still some way off and we don't know if the timetable 
> > is going to further slip. 
> > 
> > The reason for asking this question is simple: is there anything that VSI 
> > can do at this stage to make Synergex's customers stay on the VMS path for 
> > a bit longer instead of switching to another operating system ? 
> > 
> > He says that Synergex still has many VMS customers, so now is the time 
> > for VSI to act if there's still any chance of convincing them to remain 
> > as VMS customers.
> > > I would also like to point out that we are, of course, in contact with 
> > > VSI, at the highest possible levels and that we value the ongoing 
> > > relationship that we have shared since the launch of their company back in 
> > > 2014. 
> > >
> > That's nice to hear but I am puzzled why you have only been actively 
> > engaged with the VMS customers over the last 10 months.
> > Simon. 
> > 
> > -- 
> > Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP 
> > Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.
> 
> Hi Simon,
> 
> There are many reasons that there is little demand. Some customers have been working towards alternate solutions (applications) for some time, and that process will continue for them, while others have several options available. Probably the main reason that there is a lack of interest in x86 is that many customers plan to move their "DIBOL" applications to alternate platforms, such as Linux or Windows. Synergy DBL is available on many platforms, and for most, porting an OpenVMS application to say Linux is almost a trivial exercise, and porting to Windows is not much harder. The fact of the matter is that most customers have several viable options available to them, and porting to OpenVMS on x86 is just one of those options.
> 
> And of course, we are constantly engaged and have close working relationships with all of our customers. My reference to the "last 10 months" was specifically referring to a series of webinars and meetings on this specific subject.
> 
> Steve Ives

Sreve do you keep track of the CERT counts for linux and windows. If I was a customer that is the last choice I would make.