[Info-vax] Attn VSI employees: Viable full system Itanium emulator for VMS ?

[Dan Cross]

In article <j77mqcFl71aU2 at mid.individual.net>,
Bill Gunshannon  <bill.gunshannon at gmail.com> wrote:
>On 2/17/22 14:32, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>> We know that VAX emulation is used by some VMS users.
>
>VMS users have a reason to stay where they are.  As we have
>discussed here ad infinitum in some cases there is little or
>no option to migrate.  That is never the case with HP-UX
>which is just another flavor of Unix.

I really don't understand the point of an HP-UX port
to x86_64.  What would be available that wouldn't also
be available under, say, Linux?  HP-UX was never a
very good or friendly version of Unix.

For that matter, I'm not sure I understand the point of
a VMS port to x86_64 as a long-term commercial product.
I could have seen it with the first Opertons, but not
now.  In particular, what market is VSI hoping for except
legacy customers who are tied to VMS for specific
vertical applications?  Why would someone make the
decision to base a new product entry on OpenVMS in 2022?

Don't get me wrong, I *like* VMS, but let's be realistic.
I doubt if they'll get much uptake beyond moving legacy
applications to modern hardware, and even then, I think
their user base will asymptotically shrink to zero as
those applications migrate to other systems.

	- Dan C.