[Info-vax] Any stronger versions of the LMF planned ?, was: Re: LMF Licence Generator Code

[Bill Gunshannon]

On 8/7/21 5:56 PM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> On 8/7/2021 7:59 AM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>> On 8/6/21 8:59 PM, Dave Froble wrote:
>>> The second part is unreasonable paranoia.  Who and where are these 
>>> "cheaters"?  I don't know of any.  Does anyone?  Most of us are just 
>>> happy that VSI is there to support us, and we understand they need 
>>> revenue to do so.  Which is why I prefer they have recurring revenue 
>>> rather than one time license sales.
>>
>> I agree with this entirely.
> 
> Given that VMS is mostly for professional usage and that
> software piracy is not common for professional usage, then
> it is not likely that software piracy is a major problem.
> 
>>                             It is not cheaters that VSI needs to
>> fear it is management who come out of MBA school with no knowledge
>> of anything not Microsoft or Linux and will see moving from VMS to
>> one of those as "modernization" of a legacy system.
> 
> If you replace a system with a significantly newer system then
> it seems fair to call it a modernization.

I quoted modernization because it is usual used as an epithet like
"legacy".  It is frequently change for changes sake.


> 
> One just need to understand that newer does not guarantee
> better.

And change for changes sake is seldom a good thing.

> 
>>                                                       Go read some
>> of the stuff on LinkedIn about "Legacy Systems".  Not specifically
>> about VMS but the attitude is even if it still does the job if it
>> is old (ie. COBOL) it is bad and a problem.
> 
> Being old is not a problem in itself.

Being old is never a problem in itself.  I'm old and regularly
compete with people less than half my age, successfully.

> 
> It becomes a problem if:
> - it is out of support

Lack of support for one part of an IS should not be a reason to
abandon it in its entirety.

> - it is hard to find people with skills

That is a fixable problem.

https://edscoop.com/college-legacy-programming-langauges-grant-bill/


> - it does not integrate with newer system that it need to
>    integrate with

With the exception of Dave's system (I actually know very little
about VMS BASIC) I can think of no legacy system that can not be
integrated into a modern system.  I have had no problems doing web
programming with COBOL.

> - it is expensive to maintain

In the case of legacy systems expense is more objective than
subjective.  A little research will show how the majority of
these modernization projects usually run way over budget and
seldom accomplish their original goal.

bill