[Info-vax] A new suggestion to handle the temporary production licences problem

[Andrew Brehm]

On 03/06/2021 15:48, Dave Froble wrote:
>> The current roadmap has Alpha "Standard Support" into 2030 (as long
>> as the current roadmap reaches). But it also depends on what you
>> mean with a "new version". An Alpha 8.4-2L3? We don't know.
>>
>> Anyway, for those a 1-2 core x86 VM will probably be "enough".
>> Should those production systems be free?
>>
> 
> If they are, VSI will be missing out on much revenue, and that could break them.
> 
> An old friend that sold services once told me, "I don't want to make a killing on a single transaction, I just want a little nick.  But I want a LOT of nicks."
> 
> Not too many free WEENDOZE systems out there, right?  Lots of little "nicks" can add up nicely.
> 

Actually, MSFT did exactly that: offer Windows for free for small devices.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2139080/microsoft-makes-windows-free-on-iot-and-small-mobile-devices-but-not-pcs.html

Makers of tablets and phones with a screen size of less than 9" could get a free Windows licence. I think I owned at least one of those free-Windows devices. They were dirt cheap for a few years when Microsoft was trying to establish Windows Mobile and Windows on tablets.

I fear VSI will be missing out much more revenue if they try to sell a product that stops working when the subscription isn't renewed. That's not the sort of thing that convinces new customers. If they just want to milk existing customers, that is fine. But to get people to switch from VMS on Alpha or Itanium to VMS on x64 instead of to Linux or from non-VMS to VMS, it will be difficult outside the cloud.