Datashed RetrocomputingMar 26, 2024

Wow, VSI is evil AF. I miss the days when HP ran the program, so very very much.

Just another greedy, soulless corporation seeking to extract every possible penny from the product while screwing the hobbyist community over.

I encourage the community to avoid the x86-64 port of VMS like the plague. Let's show these bungholes some solidarity by telling them that if they aren't our allies, we don't want them to exist at all.

https://vmssoftware.com/about/news/2024-03-25-community-license-update/?hss_channel=fbp-675346952557869

Updates to the Community Program — VMS Software, Inc.

VMS Software, Inc. announces updates to its community license program: community licenses for x86 are provided as a vmdk package, Alpha and Integrity licenses are discontinued.

Show threadHowToPhil
@datashed HP has been remotely disabling printers for people having the gall to cancel their ink subscriptions...
Mar 26, 2024 at 3:12pmWeb
Show threadDatashed RetrocomputingMar 26, 2024

@howtophil definitely not trying to talk up HP here. But they were quite liberal offering VMS hobbyist licenses for not just Alpha and Itanium, but VAX as well, with no restrictions on cluster size.

VSI's model is objectively and demonstrably hostile to hobbyists.