[Info-vax] VMS VAX License for personal Microvax 3100 Model 40

[Lee Gleason]

On 7/31/2022 4:30 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> Den 2022-07-31 kl. 23:22, skrev Robert A. Brooks:
>> On 7/29/2022 3:47 PM, Johnny Billquist wrote:
>>> On 2022-07-29 20:04, abrsvc wrote:
>>
>>>>  From what I recall, VSI bought the rights to Alpha and Itanium 
>>>> along with the rights to create the X86 variants.  VSI does not have 
>>>> the rights to do anything with VAX versions at all.  HP retains the 
>>>> rights to allow/disallow any licensing for VAX machines or emulated 
>>>> VAXes.  All licensing for these are handled through HP Financial.  
>>>> This includes both the purchase of licenses as well as transfers.
>>>
>>> That was the belief of a lot of people, but VSI (or people from VSI) 
>>> publicly corrected that belief in this newsgroup some time ago. They 
>>> do have the rights also to the VAX bits. But there isn't even a 
>>> snowballs chance in hell that they will build a new VAX version, it 
>>> has been said.
>>> And VSI cannot issue any licenses for HPE versions of VMS, which is 
>>> why the VAX is in such a limbo.
>>
>> What Johnny has written is 100% correct.
>>
> 
> VSI doesn't have any right to issue any licenses to *any* VMS/OpenVMS
> version, no matter the platform/architecture, if it isn't a version
> issued by VSI. Such as any Alpha or IA64 version that was issued
> from HP/HPE (or earlier).
> 
> It has to be a VAX kit built by VSI, and that (as has already been
> said) will simply not happen.
> 
> That VSI should take the work to build an VAX kit just to satisfy
> a few hobbyists, is ridiculous...
> 
> 
   There's more than a few VAX hobbyists. And an intern or one of those 
hobbyists could put together a no-warranty lightly tested hobbyist grade 
release of VMS (VMS 7.3H?) and generate a lot of good will for a company 
that could stand to have more of it, instead of enmity from all of those 
aforementioned hobbyists. VSI should be doing all it can to get VMS, any 
version/architecture of VMS, in front of as many people with as little 
effort to the end user as possible now. Sounds like a low effort low 
cost win to me.

--
Lee K. Gleason N5ZMR
Control-G Consultants
lee.gleason at comcast.net