[Info-vax] Open Source on OpenVMS - A Progress Report

[BillPedersen]

On Oct 19, 3:08 am, hel... at astro.multiCLOTHESvax.de (Phillip Helbig---
remove CLOTHES to reply) wrote:
> In article
> <5fa0f25e-6f55-4f8a-ae61-3c3afab76... at 31g2000vbf.googlegroups.com>,
>
> BillPedersen <peder... at ccsscorp.com> writes:
> > Along these lines I have been involved in discussions on various
> > forums including: comp.os.vms, vms-sig-listserv, LinkedIn.com, my own
> > VMSblog as well as Twitter and Facebook.  
>
> Make sure that anyone interested in non-HP VMS software has to look in
> one, and only one, place.  That is the main issue.  Once that is solved,
> the others will follow.
>
> If no-one with more time, money, resources etc volunteers, I might
> consider volunteering to maintain a one-stop--shop website.  Of course,
> this makes sense only if (almost) everyone agrees to always have the
> most up-to-date, stable versions of the corresponding packages there.
>
> > The general concensus is
> > that there needs to be communication, centralized repositories,
> > coordination, continuity and critical mass.  These "5-Cs" are all
> > important to making the Open Source on OpenVMS Project succeed.
>
> Indeed.
>
> > At present I can not say that any one of these issues is under
> > control.
>
> Indeed.
>
> >    comp.os.vms newsgroup
> >    VMS-... at LISTSERV.ENCOMPASSUS.ORG
> >    LinkedIn.com OpenVMS Community Group and other DEC groups on the site
> >    Facebook.com
> >    Twitter.com
> >    community-connect.org various groups and blogs on the HP Connect web
> > site
> >    VMSblog my own Blog oriented toward my thoughts and evangelism for
> > OpenVMS
> >    OpenVMS.org
> >    OpenVMSHobbyist.com
> >    VAXnotes on Eisner at the mail.encompasserve.org site
>
> Again, a one-stop shop is the main issue.
>
> > What has not happened?  We are still hampered by the need to
> > communicate in many different environments and styles.  Ah to have
> > some "super glue" to bind this environments together.  I have a bit of
> > that started with an interface between my VMSblog and Twitter.  I have
> > also been using the "AddThis" Firefox addon to help with some of the
> > other areas but I still have not found the application that really
> > ties things together.
>
> I think this is the wrong approach.  ONE STOP.  Either a mailing list or
> a web-based forum.  Now that they are archived and spam isn't a problem,
> maybe even a newsgroup.
>
> > Source Forge seems like the logical place for much of this work.  This
> > is especially true since the main line code trees of many Open Source
> > packages are already resident.  In discussions with folks in OpenVMS
> > Engineering it sounds like this is the way they are leaning.  They
> > already has a history there with GNV (although the code on Source
> > Forge has not been update since 30 July 2004...).  Other sites have
> > GNV includingftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/openvms/opensource/where version
> > V2.01.002.1 resides as well as atftp://encompasserve.org/gnv/where
> > John Malmberg has posted various fixes and updates of the work he has
> > contributed.
>
> Source Forge is not dedicated to VMS.  While that might be fine for
> development, I think we need a central repository for the latest stable
> versions of VMS software.  Some packages might have ongoing development
> at Source Forge or somewhere else.  Take the OSU web server, for
> example.  Great product.  I don't see Dave Jones moving it to Source
> Forge, though, nor do I think that that would be a good idea.
>
> My strategy used to be: check with Hunter Goatley's server, then check
> OSU, LYNX and TEXMF.  But there are too many exceptions now.  We need a
> one-stop shop.
>
> > This is one of the difficult ones. If I could wave a magic wand to
> > facilitate this I would.  I suspect this will take continued effort
> > and management.  It will also take the active particpation of
> > application authors and evangelists to make sure their offerings are
> > well represented and supported.
>
> I think a coordinator could be found if a) all involved agree on the
> goals and b) the coordinator himself also agrees.

Thanks Phillip.  I appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Bill.