[Info-vax] VSI strategy for OpenVMS

[Bill Gunshannon]

On 9/14/21 8:16 AM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> On 9/14/2021 12:41 AM, Phillip Helbig (undress to reply) wrote:
>> In article <shopgc$b49$3 at gioia.aioe.org>, =?UTF-8?Q?Arne_Vajh=c3=b8j?=
>> <arne at vajhoej.dk> writes:
>>> On 9/13/2021 8:01 PM, chris wrote:
>>>> On 09/13/21 18:24, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>>>>> Bill Gunshannon<bill.gunshannon at gmail.com>Â  wrote:
>>>>>> Any browser requires a desktop.  I thought that idea had been 
>>>>>> abandoned?
>>>>>
>>>>> No it doesn't, that is the beauty of DECWindows.  Mind you, there's
>>>>> really
>>>>> no reason to have a browser on a machine without a desktop, other than
>>>>> for diagnostic purposes and downloads.  But it's not required, and 
>>>>> it is
>>>>> occasionally handy.
>>>>>
>>>>> Does "occasionally handy" warrant an enormous effort to port a modern
>>>>> browser
>>>>> to VMS?  I don't think so.  But if someone here wants to give it a
>>>>> try, have
>>>>> at it.  That's the beauty of open source.
>>>>
>>>> A lot of system management is done via browsers, for years now. Also,
>>>> for software dev, nothing beats a windowing system with multiple
>>>> terminal windows and tabbed full screen editors. I used to be pretty
>>>> deft with edt on a vt terminal but those days are gone forever. All the
>>>> ilom i've worked with works far better using a browser for access. A
>>>> sort of universal access method for systems. So yes, lack of a browser
>>>> might be seen as a serious disadvantage.
>>>
>>> Web interfaces are very common for admin stuff today.
>>>
>>> But usually running the browser on a PC will work fine.
>>
>> Right.  But if one downloads and uploads files from VMS, then a browser
>> on VMS allows one to avoid going through a third system.
> 
> Most VMS systems runs something important and do not have
> access to download directly from the internet.

I doubt that is true, but maybe.  And then you have so  many calling
for VMS to find a way back into academia.  Without a real desktop and
a decent browser that is never going to happen (not that it is likely
to happen anyway).  The user community you will find  in academia today
is not going to want to work with a CLI or vt-class editors.

bill