[Info-vax] Open Source on OpenVMS (was: Re: Taking a break...)

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 6/16/2022 3:11 PM, Stephen Hoffman wrote:
> On 2022-06-16 13:50:16 +0000, seasoned_geek said:
>> The one package that shoulda-woulda-coulda made a lot of sense was 
>> PostgreSQL because it actually started out on VMS decades ago. 
>> According to the port page
>> https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/OpenVMS_port
>> last updated 2012 . . .
> 
> PostgreSQL hasn't ever supported OpenVMS. (You're probably confusing 
> PostgreSQL with Ingres or some other database package which did have 
> support for VAX/VMS or OpenVMS.)

PostgreSQL has some heritage from Ingres, but PostgreSQL started
on *nix (not quite sure which).

>> I say it would have made a lot of sense only because OpenVMS could 
>> then become a robust host OS for a robust relational database that all 
>> of the x86 languages that matter could hit. Would have granted much 
>> purpose to the x86 port, especially if the COBOL/BASIC/FORTRAN/C 
>> compilers got a PostgreSQLMod utility so shops could begin migrating 
>> applications from RDB to a free-as-in-beer database the new 
>> maintainers of VMS could sell support contracts for.
> 
> VSI does seem intent on a port of PostgreSQL. Probably as an option or 
> fallback, should Oracle Rdb be delayed or unavailable or otherwise 
> under- or uninteresting to VSI customers.

PostgreSQL on VMS is interesting even with Rdb in fine shape on
VMS x86-64. PostgreSQL is a major database today - Rdb is a nice
database but totally niche in the market.

>> I suspect that was a giant hill to push a boulder up though.
> 
> Definitely. OpenVMS app ports from Rdb to not-Rdb will involve a fair 
> amount of work, and the pre-compilers are just part of that "fun". (I'll 
> have to ponder what's involved in pre-compiler support, given LLVM-based 
> languages. LLVM integrates far better than did DEC-era compilers.)

Pre-compilers should not be a big problem.

PostgreSQL comes with an embedded SQL for C compiler.

There is an open source embedded SQL for Cobol compiler.

VSI got embedded SQL working for all languages for SQL Relay - and
changing that from SQL Relay API to libpq API should not be a big
task.

But question is how relevant it is. PostgreSQL will probably
appeal most to new application. And new applications will
probably not use embedded SQL. Embedded SQL is a technology
of the past.

I expect to see libpq in C/C++, JDBC driver for JVM languages,
psycopg2 module for Python, pgsql extension in PHP etc..

Arne