[Info-vax] OpenVMS Hobbyist Notification

[Zane H. Healy]

Dave Froble <davef at tsoft-inc.com> wrote:
>> On Saturday, 7 March 2020 14:39:27 UTC, Zane H. Healy  wrote:
>>> Alpha emulator (I believe one is slowly being developed).  I'm personally
>>> only VAX & Alpha at this point.  I've never had the option to run Itanium,
>>> or a reason to make a serious effort.  I am *VERY* interested in the x86
>>> port, but licensing is a very serious concern.
> 
> Don't know why any hobbyist would want to run an itanic ???

I'd like to have an Itanium system, it's a question of software
availability, and cost.

> However, they say it will run on VirtualBox, and I'd think that for any 
> hobbyist, as well as others, this might be enough.

More importantly they plan to have the release version running on VMware
based on the Roadmap.  For me that's a big deal.  VMS is the main reason I
purchased a VMware license, and built a small cluster, though I now use it
for a lot of other things.

> I've written it before, be prepared to read it again.
> 
> Theory: VMS in front of as many people as possible would be a good thing 
> for VSI.
> 
> Concept: Make VMS available to anyone at zero cost, with the rule that 
> commercial use would require a support contract.

This would make quite a bit of sense in todays business world.  If you're
running a good chunk of your company on something, you really want a support
contract.  Furthermore I've seen where the support contract on Open Source
actaully costs more than a commercial alternative.

Zane