VSI OpenVMS Forum

https://vmssoftware.com/about/news/2024 ... se-update/
Big news about the hobbyist license program

Access to the new x86 CLP vmdk disk comes through a link in an email. The title of the email is "Your Community License Package". If you were a previous x86 license receiver, then you should have gotten one or will sooner or later. Check your spam and hope you have not emptied it. Mine came the morning of 4/1/2024. The email will contain a link to a page describing how to set up the vmdk using Oracle's VirtualBox. If you use something else you are on your own - interpret the VirtualBox instructions for your choseN VM software. The other link will be to a zip file containing a two-part vmdk file. One file has the internal details of the vmdk and the other has the compressed data. You need both.

No mail with such a link has been received. There was no mail marked as spam, other mails were received from VSI.
If you received a mail on january 4th things are going pearshaped.
(if you receive April 1st, then a have to assume it was a Joke).

noci wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 07, 2024 1:44 pm

Access to the new x86 CLP vmdk disk comes through a link in an email. The title of the email is "Your Community License Package". If you were a previous x86 license receiver, then you should have gotten one or will sooner or later. Check your spam and hope you have not emptied it. Mine came the morning of 4/1/2024. The email will contain a link to a page describing how to set up the vmdk using Oracle's VirtualBox. If you use something else you are on your own - interpret the VirtualBox instructions for your choseN VM software. The other link will be to a zip file containing a two-part vmdk file. One file has the internal details of the vmdk and the other has the compressed data. You need both.

No mail with such a link has been received. There was no mail marked as spam, other mails were received from VSI.
If you received a mail on january 4th things are going pearshaped.
(if you receive April 1st, then a have to assume it was a Joke).

Sorry, I should have used the standard VMS nomenclature for dates 01-APR-2024 - Indeed an April Fool's joke of a kind. Though in some ways not very funny,

From issue:
SPS-1521

Tracking is used to see if mail is "read"...., After 6 "unread" mails one is dropped from the list.
Also i do hardly read any HTML makeup in mail, the ASCII version has a lot less chance to auto-invoke al kinds of rubbish..

I do suppress tracking ==> .... appearantly this was mail 7, 8 ....

noci wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 08, 2024 12:09 pm

From issue:
SPS-1521

Tracking is used to see if mail is "read"...., After 6 "unread" mails one is dropped from the list.
Also i do hardly read any HTML makeup in mail, the ASCII version has a lot less chance to auto-invoke al kinds of rubbish..

I do suppress tracking ==> .... appearantly this was mail 7, 8 ....

I never got the email and I also turn off tracking.

You mean to tell me that a company who has become infamous for not sending emails in a timely manner changing something to make it so that it requires them to email you results in the entire system breaking down‽ Never!

I am almost thinking that VSI is trying to alienate the supporters they (still) have.

I was an OpenVMS Systems Manager / Consultant (and more) for quite some time.
Currently there is hardly employment to be found for that expertise.
Recently i became a RHCSA... for personal business continuity.

I still want to keep up the skills and i might see some opportunities to move the OpenVMS platform forward.

It feels like once the community found enough show-stoppers that would keep their customers from buying in; and into their subscription model they decided to kick everyone out. Or maybe, they are inspired by Broadcom and are really interested in milking captive customers and want to fire the expensive ones. At the end of the day, they fired their unpaid (community) testing team for anything outside of the core product.

That's exactly the problem with company's who change their minds in such drastic ways. What do i mean by that?

1. One just port's software if needed or you "own" the platform, i can use a Linux/BSD etc whenever i want and no company change will threat the use of it, and no windows is too widely used one can always get a license, and Microsoft is totally fine with that (better loose 20$ (initially) then one user)

2. Do i want to learn, port software, be part of a community, invest my free time etc to a OS's where i have to fear that i have to pay or being not able at all to use it a year later when the license expires?

3. There is that 00's mindset lately that restricting the use of software is anything good (VMware, Redis, Mongo, Elastic). That's NOT how to build a community, community's are rightfully build-up on trust and not dictating entity's.

4. Ask yourself, would you invest your free-time/money where some unknown CEO can nullify your work?

And just to be clear, now you cannot go back.

Everyone who uses or invests time in the "community" OpenVMS will have that little fear in the back of their minds, i really wish you had asked some real software-community-leaders, like from fedora/debian/apache/FreeBSD instead of kill the "community" and replace it with "try it for free for 365 days".

And at least some hint concerning "making money with a server os":

Put your images on cloud platforms like AWS/GCS/OCI etc i don't see them, where are they?? Add for example 15$ per month for usage of that image...that's how RHEL and SLES makes a lot of their money. NOT please write to sales@vms, stop creating contracts and start making money

noci wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 08, 2024 12:09 pm

From issue:
SPS-1521

Tracking is used to see if mail is "read"...., After 6 "unread" mails one is dropped from the list.
Also i do hardly read any HTML makeup in mail, the ASCII version has a lot less chance to auto-invoke al kinds of rubbish..

I do suppress tracking ==> .... appearantly this was mail 7, 8 ....

Can someone explain exactly what this means? It almost sounds as if you are saying that if VSI has sent you bulk mail in the past and not consistently gotten read receipts for it that they will block you for all mail, including notifications about your CL application?

That would mean : everyone using OpenVMS mail is dropped (sic..)