[Info-vax] VSI OpenVMS Community License

[Jim Duff]

On 27/3/24 10:01, Craig A. Berry wrote:
> 
> On 3/26/24 5:39 PM, Jim Duff wrote:
>> On 27/3/24 01:26, Chris Townley wrote:
>>> Just received 2 mails from VSI
>>>
>>> End of Alpha and I64 community licenses
>>>
>>> Looks like a more restricted X86 - WE can download a pre-built and 
>>> licensed VMDK with a few LP, including compilers
>>>
>>> Or there is an Ambassador program
>>>
>>> Not sure what to think yet...
>>>
>>
>> *I'm* certainly confused.  The email says "Your current license is 
>> valid through August 22, 2024"
> 
> Which e-mail would that be?  The announcement about discontinuing Alpha
> and Integrity community licenses doesn't appear to have anything like
> that statement. It did say the existing licenses would be renewed one
> more time "in August" -- presumably August 2024.

I have to assume that when I get a personal email entitled "Updates to 
your Community License" that references "Your current license", it's 
referring to the only Community License I currently have, the one for 
x86_64.

> 
> , however
>>
>> https://sp.vmssoftware.com/#/packages/676
>>
>> says "x86 community licenses good through April 1, 2024", agreeing 
>> with what licence list says.  That's five days away for those of us on 
>> this side of the dateline.
> 
> So far the x86 license seems to go mostly by field test practices and
> they have a PAK on the portal.  I've been assuming that would change
> sometime soon to how community has been working, but with the plug being
> pulled on that, it's an open question how and when there will be another
> PAK for OpenVMS x86. We've been told that at some point there will be
> this vmdk thing, but whether that's effective *now* with no other
> options, or whether there will be one more PAK on the portal, or what,
> is not something I've seen mentioned.
> 

Hence my pointing out the (implied) gap between 01-Apr and
22-Aug for x86.

>>   I'm trying to avoid making April Fool's references.
> 
> Go ahead and send around an announcement that your patch syndication
> service is back online :-).  While we're lamenting things that were good
> while they lasted :-(.
> 
> 

Here we are nearly 14 years after I was forced to kill the patch 
syndication feeds, and I don't know how many years after the Sydney CSC 
stopped providing the patch list, and there is *still* no way to 
automatically retrieve a list of patches for your version of VMS.

-- 
eight-cubed.com