[Info-vax] HPE Integrity emulator

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 2/28/2024 1:03 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
> On 2024-02-27, John Dallman <jgd at cix.co.uk> wrote:
>> If the documentation is correct, then making an IA64 VMS emulator for
>> x96-64 VMS would require, at least:
>>
>> * Extending the ELF library to cope with dynamically linked executables
>>    and libraries.
>> * Creating a system call translation layer for VMS. This would be a lot
>>    easier with the VMS source available.
>> * Fixing bugs that doubtless exist in the libraries.
>> * Getting the instruction set library to run at a reasonable speed.

> So direct execution of some standalone Itanium VMS user-mode executables
> might be possible with enough effort, but no running Itanium VMS as an
> entity in its own right.
> 
> It really does speak to how complex the Itanium architecture is that
> nobody has ever done an Itanium full-system emulator. :-)

That and lack of demand (demand = businesses willing to
pay for such an emulator not hobbyists that think it could
be fun with such an emulator).

Maybe it will change. HP-UX is not being ported to x86-64
as far as I know, so *if* some businesses do not want to
migrate from HP-UX/Itanium to Linux/x86-64, then demand
for an Itanium emulator may rise.

(note the *if* - I don't know any HP-UX people)

Arne