RE: VMS on intel (was:RE: RH 6.0 can't see Multia ethernet)

["Rebuck, Gregory" <Gregory Rebuck COMPAQ com>]

John,

At first I thought "Ya got me!"  But after looking at the site I feel a bit
vindicated.  They state clearly that Free-VMS is an OpenVMS *look-alike*.
So is it really VMS?  You have to decide.  Fairly similar to the Linux
question.  Linux isn't really UNIX but in some ways it out-UNIXes UNIX!
There's alway some bozo out there willing to port some OS or application to
his own platform.  I personally am not too excited about VMS but even less
so with regards to Intel!  For one thing this is someone's pet project; I
don't see anything to do with Digital/Compaq on it.

I think this line is particularly interesting:
"Discussion: one of the goals for Free-VMS is not only to get VMS on PC's.
Other architectures should be considered (I've always dreamed of baffling
some SunOS-weenie by starting VMS on his favorite hardware :-))."

So we're to infer that we just do these things because they can be done or
as this person points out, to poke jabs at others.  Isn't this a bit
infantile?  I see this more as recreation: you climb a mountain for some
personal sense of accomplishment not to save the world or at least
contribute something productive.  There's a difference between doing
something for your own satisfaction and producing something that people
really want!

I suppose there are some out there who can't bear to see VMS finally bite it
but GET OVER IT!  I loved Amigas till I finally realized no company
(especially Commodore) was ever going to make it competitive.  Do we really
want VMS ported to SPARC, MIPS, PPC, etc.?  Someone's porting Linux to CE
devices and, while I like my little HP Jornada 820 I can't see much point of
putting Linux on it other than to rub MS's nose in it.  WinCE serves its
purpose in providing small but useful apps to tiny devices, though I admit I
didn't care about yet-another-WinOS until I got this beastie.  Linux "lacks"
(don't slaughter me on this word--Linux is just not yet gaining much
interest in the desktop and IMHO *won't* until it can coexist as both a
hacker's environment and a commercially viable product; AFAIK a Netscape
browser still is not available for Linux/Alpha unless you count Mozilla
which if I recall was an early version of Netscape) the basic kinds of apps
that are central to WinCE.

I'm not hammering anyone here, I just want to inspire the thought that just
because something *can* be done does not necessarily make it important to
do.

The defense rests.

GARP


Greg Rebuck

Gregory.Rebuck@compaq.com
Compaq Services
PM&D: Compaq Analyze project
(719) 592-7706
COMPAQ Computer Corporation

Jedi Knight from the Plaid Side of the Force.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: dr john halewood [mailto:john@unidec.co.uk]
> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 1999 9:35 AM
> To: 'axp-list@redhat.com'
> Subject: VMS on intel (was:RE: RH 6.0 can't see Multia ethernet)
> 
> 
> Gregory.Rebuck@COMPAQ.com wrote:
> 
> 	>Anyway, would you *really* want VMS on Intel?  
> 
> Try www.free-vms.org. Someone obviously does!
> (mind you, at the rate the project seems to be going, it's
> going to take a long time)
> 
> cheers
> john
>  (who has at least 3 machines under his desk running VMS!)
> 
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