[Info-vax] last "Rendez-vous around VMS" (october 17th) reports and documents

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 12/21/2023 8:55 AM, VMSgenerations working group wrote:
> we want to thank all those who managed to attend the last webinar 
> “Rendez-vous around VMS” organized by the French VMSgenerations user 
> group on October 17th.
> 
> We had product update sessions from Kevin Duffy (Oracle), Adam 
> Hoff-Nielsen (VSI) and Camiel Vanderhoeven (VSI).
> 
> Before the webinar we collected questions for Oracle and VSI who gave 
> detailed answers in their presentations.
> 
> The session report (French and English), presentations & questions are 
> available on 
> www.vmsgenerations.fr/rendez-vous-autour-de-vms-du-17-octobre/ .

Very interesting. And thanks to the french for arranging and
posting.

I hope it is OK that I provide a few quotes or what I think are
the most interesting.

Oracle Classic:

<quote>
For   Oracle   classic,   version   11gR2   (11.2.0.4)   is   the 
terminal   release   for OpenVMS, which reached the end of extended 
support in December 2020. The  latest  patches  date  back  to  2021. 
Since  then,  the  version  has  been  in "Indefinite Sustaining 
Support", with no official end date.
</quote>

<quote>
On  the  client-server  side,  11g  is  the  latest  version  of  the 
VMS  client available  and  can  interoperate  with  database  servers 
running  versions 11.2,  12.1  and  up  to  19c.  Both  versions  11g 
and  19c  have  Sustaining  Support and Long Term Support.
</quote>

My comment: I don't think this new.

Rdb:

<quote>
V7.4 is the current version with Premier support until at least December 
2025 but this may last longer.
</quote>

<quote>
For  new  developments,  priority  is  given  to  Rdb  and  DBMS  kits 
for  x86.  The development environment is moving from VMS on Oracle 
VirtualBox (easier for  development  &  tests)  to  VMS  on  Oracle 
Linux  KVM  (OLVM,  selected  for production)   and   cross-compilers 
will   soon   be   replaced   by   native   VMS compilers.  Progress  is 
  illustrated  by  figures  on  testing  and  the  arrival  of  native 
compilers  enables  tests  to  be  extended. The  main  dev  compiler 
(Bliss)  has  just arrived  in  native  version.
</quote>

<quote>
Rdb  in  the  Oracle  cloud:  The  transition  to  Oracle  KVM  as  a 
hypervisor  will make  it  possible  to  run  VMS  &  Rdb  in  the 
Oracle  cloud.
</quote>

<quote>
The  licensing  principle  for  Rdb  on  x86  will  be  the  same 
already  known  for Oracle  Enterprise  Edition,  with  a  core-factor 
of  0.5:  according  to  the formula "nb licenses = nb cores x 
core-factor". For Itanium and Alpha, core-factor = 1.
</quote>

<quote>
There  are  currently  no  plans  for  a  "Free"  version  of  Rdb  for 
personal  &  free use (as exists for Oracle 23c, with limitations).
</quote>

<quote>
Roadmap  :  a  beta  kit  of  Rdb  on  x86  could  arrive  in  the 
first  part  of  2024  if porting problems are resolved.
</quote>

My comment: looks like strong commitment but a slight delay.

VSI:

<quote>
VSI aims to address  the  needs  of  over  1,000  VMS  customers  with 
more  than  6,000 servers.
</quote>

<quote>
Indications  of  revenue,  R&D  expenditure  and  profit  are  given 
for  Teracloud with  310  employees  and  over  1,000  customers.  VSI 
represents  the  bulk  of Teracloud's   teams.   A   significant 
proportion   of   VSI   revenues   (>40%)   are reinvested in OpenVMS 
development. The first 5 years were profitless, but since 2019  the 
profit  exists  and  is  growing.  Development  of  the  OS  and 
associated products   is   mainly   carried   out   in   the   USA, 
with   some   roles   and   new developments based in Denmark and 
Armenia. Compilers are split between the USA  and  Armenia,  with  plans 
  to  expand  the  team  in  Armenia  to  support  most compilers. 
Current opensource products remain in Armenia, Denmark and New  Zealand. 
  New  opensource  developments  will  come  from  Greece.  VSI  has 
140 employees, including ~100 engineers.
</quote>

<quote>
VSI employs 140 people at several sites around the world. VSI is part of 
the Teracloud group. 60% of Teracloud's revenue comes from VSI. VSI's 
revenue in 2023 will be around €45M, of which around €20M will be 
reinvested in R&D. Revenue generated: 45% in North America, 55% in the 
rest of the world.
</quote>

My comment: sounds like VSI is in good shape. I don't understand why
VSI is doing development in Denmark - that can't be cost efficient.

Arne