[Info-vax] Rdb/x86

[Simon Clubley]

On 2020-11-25, Phillip Helbig (undress to reply) <helbig at asclothestro.multivax.de> wrote:
> In article <rpm85v$spg$1 at dont-email.me>, Simon Clubley
><clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP> writes: 
>

[I'm posting the following again because the original posting doesn't
appear to have made it out of Eternal September. Apologies if you see
this a second time and those of you who have posted using Eternal
September over the last day or so might want to check that your own
postings have made it out of Eternal September.]

>> > The announcement that Rdb is available for x86-VMS tells the manager 
>> > nothing about whether enough people will be using VMS on x86-64 to make 
>> > it a relatively safe decision for that manager to also take.
>> >
>> 
>> You _still_ don't get it Phillip.
>> 
>> It tells the manager that a major vendor has committed to x86-64 VMS
>> and that in itself helps give a increased level of confidence. 
>
> In other contexts known as vaporware.
>

You really don't get this marketing and building confidence within end-user
organisations thing do you Phillip ?

It is the job of VSI marketing to convince the end-user organisations
that staying the course with VSI, for however long it takes for x86-64
VMS to become available, is the safest option for the end-user organisation
(and for the manager's company pension!).

So far, VSI marketing don't appear to be doing a very good job of that
(to put it mildly).

>> There's a reason why DEC spent the time maintaining the old application
>> source books. This stuff matters. Big time.
>
> And what happened to DEC?
>

For a time, they were the second most powerful computer company around.

>> That information only became available in public very recently and is
>> still not on the VSI website that I can see.
>
> Rdb engineers have said, publicly, for years now that they expect Rdb to 
> run on VMS a short time after the first boot.  Old news.
>

Most certainly not old news.

Even if the engineers were saying that (and I didn't see any mention
of that), you cannot trust what they said until their management made
a decision.

At the start of the x86-64 VMS port, people were lead to believe that
Ada would be coming to x86-64 VMS right until it was realised that it
would not be.

Those Ada customers no longer have a way forward on VMS.

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.