4 ms·

Is there any value to keeping it non-free? Do they still sell it to commercial customers?

by rwmj 4y ago

praptak 4y ago
It's probably the other way around. Keeping it non-free requires doing nothing, so it is the default. OTOH, freeing such a code base is costly, especially if multiple licenses cover different parts of the code or if the code contains references to stuff that you don't want to go public.
vaxman 4y ago
Will be sold until the end of time, though swapping the hardware out from under the software is a no-brainer. I wonder what this puppy looks like running on a couple 7,529 pin 120 core Intel Xeons —going to need a bigger monitor to run SHOW PROCESS on!
- mrlonglong 4y ago
  Hobbyist licence is limited to 6 cores BUT it will see them all just fine. I assigned 16GB of ECC RAM and 8 cores. Fun times watching it fly.
electroly 4y ago
VMS Software's intention in porting VMS to x86 was certainly to capture commercial sales. It was an expensive undertaking; there would be no other reason to spend the money besides expecting to recoup it in sales. The whole company's existence is because of the existing commercial customer base. They acquired the rights to VMS from HPE with the expectation that they'd make money with it. They have a press release talking about all the support contracts they inherited from HPE. The real question is: what do they get out of offering a hobbyist license? I honestly don't think they get anything and it's just a nice gesture of goodwill. Nobody is going to pick up the hobbyist VMS license and then decide to adopt VMS at work. I bet it doesn't lead to a single extra commercial sale. It's nice that they're offering it despite that.
- privong 4y ago
  > Nobody is going to pick up the hobbyist VMS license and then decide to adopt VMS at work. I bet it doesn't lead to a single extra commercial sale. It's nice that they're offering it despite that. While I think you're probably right, having the hobbyist x86 option might help with testing and identifying bugs though, due to the larger user base.
- labcomputer 4y ago
  > The real question is: what do they get out of offering a hobbyist license? Commoditize your complements: If you sell VMS software, it stands to reason you would like there to be people who know how to use it. Even better if you don’t have to pay the train them. Tons of people know how to use Linux because you can just download a distro and start using it… It’s the same reason MS and Cisco have all those certificate programs. I never understood why IBM didn’t make a hobbyist version of their mainframe OSes for Hercules.
- mixmastamyk 4y ago
  This same kind of short term thinking is what doomed VMS and UNIX in the first place, and why we use Linux for such things now.
  - electroly 4y ago
    Yes, I know. Linux already having won is my point. The window for VMS's mainstream relevance ended decades ago. New companies won't be adopting VMS today no matter how many free hobbyist licenses you offer. It's just not going to happen. So VMS in 2023 exists to service the existing customer base. We're way past the point where VMS can hope to roll up to the commercial level at new companies by offering free licenses to a few scrappy hobbyists. Decades ago that could have worked. Today the landscape is different. VSI knows all of this, of course. I really don't think they intend to compete with Linux in 2023 with hobbyist licenses. That was never in the cards.
    - mixmastamyk 4y ago
      I think there's room out there for "weird" OSs... but I do agree that a "hobbyist license" doesn't cut it this late in the game.

Is there any value to keeping it non-free? Do they still sell it to commercial customers?

by rwmj 4y ago

Is there any value to keeping it non-free? Do they still sell it to commercial customers?

It's probably the other way around. Keeping it non-free requires doing nothing, so it is the default. OTOH, freeing such a code base is costly, especially if multiple licenses cover different parts of the code or if the code contains references to stuff that you don't want to go public.

vaxman 4y ago

Will be sold until the end of time, though swapping the hardware out from under the software is a no-brainer. I wonder what this puppy looks like running on a couple 7,529 pin 120 core Intel Xeons —going to need a bigger monitor to run SHOW PROCESS on!

mrlonglong 4y ago
Hobbyist licence is limited to 6 cores BUT it will see them all just fine. I assigned 16GB of ECC RAM and 8 cores. Fun times watching it fly.

electroly 4y ago

VMS Software's intention in porting VMS to x86 was certainly to capture commercial sales. It was an expensive undertaking; there would be no other reason to spend the money besides expecting to recoup it in sales. The whole company's existence is because of the existing commercial customer base. They acquired the rights to VMS from HPE with the expectation that they'd make money with it. They have a press release talking about all the support contracts they inherited from HPE. The real question is: what do they get out of offering a hobbyist license? I honestly don't think they get anything and it's just a nice gesture of goodwill. Nobody is going to pick up the hobbyist VMS license and then decide to adopt VMS at work. I bet it doesn't lead to a single extra commercial sale. It's nice that they're offering it despite that.

privong 4y ago
> Nobody is going to pick up the hobbyist VMS license and then decide to adopt VMS at work. I bet it doesn't lead to a single extra commercial sale. It's nice that they're offering it despite that. While I think you're probably right, having the hobbyist x86 option might help with testing and identifying bugs though, due to the larger user base.
labcomputer 4y ago
> The real question is: what do they get out of offering a hobbyist license? Commoditize your complements: If you sell VMS software, it stands to reason you would like there to be people who know how to use it. Even better if you don’t have to pay the train them. Tons of people know how to use Linux because you can just download a distro and start using it… It’s the same reason MS and Cisco have all those certificate programs. I never understood why IBM didn’t make a hobbyist version of their mainframe OSes for Hercules.
mixmastamyk 4y ago
This same kind of short term thinking is what doomed VMS and UNIX in the first place, and why we use Linux for such things now.
- electroly 4y ago
  Yes, I know. Linux already having won is my point. The window for VMS's mainstream relevance ended decades ago. New companies won't be adopting VMS today no matter how many free hobbyist licenses you offer. It's just not going to happen. So VMS in 2023 exists to service the existing customer base. We're way past the point where VMS can hope to roll up to the commercial level at new companies by offering free licenses to a few scrappy hobbyists. Decades ago that could have worked. Today the landscape is different. VSI knows all of this, of course. I really don't think they intend to compete with Linux in 2023 with hobbyist licenses. That was never in the cards.
  - mixmastamyk 4y ago
    I think there's room out there for "weird" OSs... but I do agree that a "hobbyist license" doesn't cut it this late in the game.