4 ms·

So they don't want hobbyists anymore? Interesting approach to growing the userbase and providing at-home labs. But maybe this is the purpose. Perhaps it is a pr

So they don't want hobbyists anymore? Interesting approach to growing the userbase and providing at-home labs. But maybe this is the purpose. Perhaps it is a precursor to sunsetting openvms into obsolescence? I wonder how much bitrot and technical debt there is now accumulating in openvms? Reminds me of IBM and z/os where they are positively hostile. Then they wonder why they can't find young COBOL programmers etc. Especially those with workable familiarity with a platform and ecosystem.

racingmars 7y ago
HPE licensed all rights to the OpenVMS operating system and codebase, including ongoing support and all future distribution, to the new company, VMS Software Inc., who among other things is working on an x86_64 port. So I don't think it's so much that HPE "doesn't want hobbyists" anymore as it is I'm guessing it's a natural (and probably contractual) part of HPE getting entirely out of the OpenVMS business. The new company already has a new hobbyist program (although I much preferred how HPE did it): https://training.vmssoftware.com/hobbyist/ https://training.vmssoftware.com/hobbyist/
- rs23296008n1 7y ago
  Excellent. So in reality this is just a transition thing. I hope it is.
- icedchai 7y ago
  The new hobbyist program is somewhat useless to people who want to tinker with old retro hardware. I suppose you could extract the install from the VM, but that's more trouble than it sounds. If you bought a VAX or Itanic box off of ebay, you're still out of luck.
  - racingmars 7y ago
    Yeah, perhaps I should have more strongly stated my "but I prefer how HPE did it point", because I agree the current VSI hobbyist program is useless to me. Hopefully by the time the current round of hobbyist licenses expire (HPE is now issuing one last round of hobbyist keys through Dec 31, 2021) VSI will have a better story for their hobbyist program for folks with old hardware (like me). If not... VMS PAKs aren't hard to generate on your own. I always appreciated that HP provided a "legal" path, though.
    - rs23296008n1 7y ago
      Ok, I'll watch and see. I have a few old machines in the fleet which are kept running for some reason. They're mainly for fun from what I can see. Similar to the old quake server we used to have for "network testing" at the end of the day.

racingmars 7y ago

HPE licensed all rights to the OpenVMS operating system and codebase, including ongoing support and all future distribution, to the new company, VMS Software Inc., who among other things is working on an x86_64 port. So I don't think it's so much that HPE "doesn't want hobbyists" anymore as it is I'm guessing it's a natural (and probably contractual) part of HPE getting entirely out of the OpenVMS business. The new company already has a new hobbyist program (although I much preferred how HPE did it): https://training.vmssoftware.com/hobbyist/ https://training.vmssoftware.com/hobbyist/

rs23296008n1 7y ago
Excellent. So in reality this is just a transition thing. I hope it is.
icedchai 7y ago
The new hobbyist program is somewhat useless to people who want to tinker with old retro hardware. I suppose you could extract the install from the VM, but that's more trouble than it sounds. If you bought a VAX or Itanic box off of ebay, you're still out of luck.
- racingmars 7y ago
  Yeah, perhaps I should have more strongly stated my "but I prefer how HPE did it point", because I agree the current VSI hobbyist program is useless to me. Hopefully by the time the current round of hobbyist licenses expire (HPE is now issuing one last round of hobbyist keys through Dec 31, 2021) VSI will have a better story for their hobbyist program for folks with old hardware (like me). If not... VMS PAKs aren't hard to generate on your own. I always appreciated that HP provided a "legal" path, though.
  - rs23296008n1 7y ago
    Ok, I'll watch and see. I have a few old machines in the fleet which are kept running for some reason. They're mainly for fun from what I can see. Similar to the old quake server we used to have for "network testing" at the end of the day.