[Info-vax] OpenVMS on the Desktop, Again (was: Re: printing from VMS)

[Stephen Hoffman]

On 2021-03-03 08:53:36 +0000, Phillip Helbig (undress to reply said:

> In article <s1mnjn$a42$1 at dont-email.me>, Stephen Hoffman 
> <seaohveh at hoffmanlabs.invalid> writes:
> 
>> It's rare for the local OpenVMS configuration to even have PDF files 
>> around, and locally rarer still to be printing PDF files directly from 
>> OpenVMS.  Good that it works, though.
> 
> I don't know how rare it is, but why should it be?

Through 2006, I did what you are doing; used OpenVMS as a desktop. With 
Xpdf, catdoc, an old web browser, and various other tools. There are 
trade-offs with that. Substantial and increasing trade-offs, in my 
experience. I'd given up on DECwrite by 2006, too.

> In addition to one's own stuff, such documentation these days is in PDF.

PDF and ePub documents are ubiquitous, yes. Mine are often stored on 
iCloud, and are accessible across iPad, iPhone, and Mac.

Microsoft Office documents are endemic within most organizations. 
Google Docs and Office 365 docs, too. LibreOffice or iWork or 
alternatives for others. DECwrite, not so much.

> Or do people keep an extra system around to read documentation on?

Most folks using OpenVMS have a Windows desktop or laptop, some a Mac 
desktop or laptop, and many use mobile devices. Or use a mix.

For many OpenVMS folks, OpenVMS is closer to that "extra system", and 
where the folks use OpenVMS servers for specific apps.

If using OpenVMS commercially, pretty much all folks will be using a 
second or additional systems for their tasks. This for mail, for 
document reading and document production, graphics, for audio and 
media, and for user apps.

NAS boxes are ubiquitous too, and are increasingly replacing local 
servers for common functions. e.g. 
https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/packages   But I digress. OpenVMS 
lacks SMB client support, too. But I digress. Again.

For commercial users of OpenVMS, the systems are generally configured 
as servers, and these servers are usually located elsewhere; away from 
the desk in a server room, hosted elsewhere. There are some folks using 
X locally for app development.  Some few with production X displays, 
though I'd expect those are becoming rare. DECwrite, rarer still. X app 
development on OpenVMS is massively more involved—even with access to 
the old ICS BX OpenVMS port or the now-long-gone VUIT—than on other 
platforms, too.

And for pricing, commercial OpenVMS licenses with three years' support 
are well past the cost of multiple nicely-configured systems inclusive 
of hardware and software and support purchase, and that's before we 
discuss the added purchase cost of the OpenVMS hardware. x86-64 pricing 
and SaaS pricing will shift some of the calculations. At present, 
there's still no entry-level OpenVMS configuration. Desktop or server. 
But yet again, I digress.

Could all of these features and these apps be added to and integrated 
with OpenVMS? Sure. Technically. Would (enough) desktop app vendors and 
end-users adopt OpenVMS for their desktop apps? Doubtful. Not in 
volume. Pricing? And whether VSI even wants to be in the desktop apps 
and desktop frameworks business, given the longstanding 
OpenVMS-as-a-server focus at VSI?

For folks with requirements akin to what you've previously discussed, a 
Linux, macOS, or Windows desktop box provides local access to Fortran. 
And many other apps unavailable on OpenVMS. Many of those folks working 
with similar requirements and with Fortran may not have or want that 
second (OpenVMS) system. Linux or macOS or Windows is not your 
preference, but can be acceptable for many others working with Fortran 
apps and Fortran development.

If my desktop computing requirements and expectations and mixes of apps 
were akin to yours, this discussion might be different. Each of us 
makes these trade-offs. Often differently.  App dependencies and app 
and system familiarities and willingnesses to change can differ, too. 
You do you, Phillip.  Each of us does us.


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