[Info-vax] Open Source on OpenVMS Conference Call - 08:00 EDT 16 Sep 2021

[Phillip Helbig undress to reply]

In article <iq3lmfFjiduU1 at mid.individual.net>, Bill Gunshannon
<bill.gunshannon at gmail.com> writes: 

> >>> Something to think about: LaTeX and associated software is used
> >>> by a huge number of people.
> >>
> >> Depends on what you consider huge number.
> >>
> >> There must be hundreds of thousands of people using Tex/LaTex at
> >> universities particular at math and natural sciences departments.
> >>
> >> But there are billions of people using MS Office, LibreOffice,
> >> Google Docs etc..
> > 
> > Pick the low-hanging fruit first? Getting LaTeX going will be
> > substantially simpler than porting Libre Office or a full-fat web browser.
> 
> Only real problem with that is no one in academia is still using VMS. 
> And updating Tex/LaTex (yes, updating as it was always available on
> VMS in the past) is not going to bring anyone back.

Well, I still use it.  I'm probably not the only one, but I agree, VMS 
is rare in academia these days.

One reason DEC was so successful back in the day is because it was
present in academia.  Maybe VSI should try to get that market back, or 
at least expand what is left of it by a significant factor.

Alternatively, modern LaTeX on VMS would make it easier for non-academic 
users to use LaTeX.