[Info-vax] VAX VMS going forward

[John E. Malmberg]

On 7/17/2020 6:42 AM, Alice Wyan wrote:
> If I understand the situation correctly, HPE is completely dropping
> support for VAX VMS, but the rights haven't been transferred to VSI.
> This means starting next year VMS on the VAX is essentially
> abandoned.

As I understand it, VSI only has the rights to distribute and license 
software binaries that they have built and tested.

This does not restrict them from producing a VAX release, but they do 
not have the resources add a VAX build to their backlog of work.

> If HPE is no longer going to be making money out of it, what would be
> stopping them from selling it/give the rights away to, say, a
> hobbyist collective that could be set up to preserve this system? I
> guess there'd be quite a legal mess of rights behind the old code,
> but... would it be a doable thing? What sort of money could we be
> talking about to get this sort of transfer done?

 From OpenVMS Customer Lab Special Notification:

"Users who wish to avail of HPE OpenVMS long term licenses are 
encouraged to purchase permanent licenses at standard prices. You may 
contact [Fellman, Jon]  <jon.fellman at hpe.com> for the same."

I do not know what the current standard prices are for a license.

The price may still vary based on the size of the system.
And license are needed for every Layered Product or SIP that are used.

If someone knows those prices and are not restricted from posting them, 
it might be nice to see them.

I do not know how long that offer is valid for either.

As far as contacting HPE at a level that could make that decision, I 
have no idea where to start.  If you own any HPE stock, you can make a 
stock-holder's request for the board to vote on at the next election.

The OpenVMS hobbyist program was created at a time where the executives 
of the company actually attended events where their customers of all 
sizes could meet with them.   That is not happening any more.

I think I am going to try NetBSD/VAX out.

I also just discovered that the SimH/VAX project supports building 
infoservers and the infoserver license software and keys are on the 
OpenVMS freeware disks.

Regards,
-John