Third Party Applications

[bill]

I frequently still glance thru my copies of the PDP-11 and VAX
Software Sourcebooks. Are there still people offering software
for VMS or is it pretty much all in-house developed applications?

Just curious.

bill

[Arne Vajhøj]

Post by bill
I frequently still glance thru my copies of the PDP-11 and VAX
Software Sourcebooks.  Are there still people offering software
for VMS or is it pretty much all in-house developed applications?

Yes.

Some of the more well known names are:

Oracle - Rdb
Mimer - Mimer SQL
Synergex - DBL
Broadcom (CA) - management stuff
SoftwareAG (ConnX) - connectivity
GrayMatter - print
Process - networking

VSI has a list of partners:
https://vmssoftware.com/about/partners/

I read your question as if you were interested in commercial
software.

On top of the commercial software there are a bunch of open
source available that either:
* is intended to run on VMS by original author
* run on VMS because someone has added the necessary
VMS pieces
* accidentally run on VMS without anything VMS specific

The list is obvious much much shorter than the list from the
mid 80's. Probably like 1-2%.

Arne

[Simon Clubley]

Post by Arne Vajhøj

Post by bill
I frequently still glance thru my copies of the PDP-11 and VAX
Software Sourcebooks.  Are there still people offering software
for VMS or is it pretty much all in-house developed applications?

Yes.
Oracle - Rdb

What is the status of this for x86-64 VMS ?

Post by Arne Vajhøj
Mimer - Mimer SQL
Synergex - DBL

Last time I saw this being discussed, that had not happened yet for x86-64
and it was unclear if it will.

Has there been a further update since then ?

There's nothing other than Alpha/IA64 on https://www.synergex.com/platforms/

Post by Arne Vajhøj
Broadcom (CA) - management stuff
SoftwareAG (ConnX) - connectivity
GrayMatter - print
Process - networking
https://vmssoftware.com/about/partners/
I read your question as if you were interested in commercial
software.
On top of the commercial software there are a bunch of open
* is intended to run on VMS by original author
* run on VMS because someone has added the necessary
VMS pieces
* accidentally run on VMS without anything VMS specific
The list is obvious much much shorter than the list from the
mid 80's. Probably like 1-2%.

As high as that ? Would it be more accurate to say that value is still
too high by an order of magnitude ?

Simon.

[Arne Vajhøj]

Post by Simon Clubley

Post by Arne Vajhøj

Post by bill
I frequently still glance thru my copies of the PDP-11 and VAX
Software Sourcebooks.  Are there still people offering software
for VMS or is it pretty much all in-house developed applications?

Yes.
Oracle - Rdb

What is the status of this for x86-64 VMS ?

We are still waiting for the x86-64 version.

Post by Simon Clubley

Post by Arne Vajhøj
Mimer - Mimer SQL
Synergex - DBL

Last time I saw this being discussed, that had not happened yet for x86-64
and it was unclear if it will.
Has there been a further update since then ?
There's nothing other than Alpha/IA64 on

https://www.synergex.com/platforms/

I have not heard anything new on that.

So they may fall off the list in 10 years. Or they may not.

I read Bill's question is being for today.

Post by Simon Clubley

Post by Arne Vajhøj
Broadcom (CA) - management stuff
SoftwareAG (ConnX) - connectivity
GrayMatter - print
Process - networking
https://vmssoftware.com/about/partners/
The list is obvious much much shorter than the list from the
mid 80's. Probably like 1-2%.

As high as that ? Would it be more accurate to say that value is still
too high by an order of magnitude ?

I believe the 80's list for VMS was around 10000 titles.

100-200 today seems more likely to me than 10-20 today.

There are more than 20 ISV's on the VSI list.

Arne

[Robert A. Brooks]

Post by Arne Vajhøj

Post by Simon Clubley

Post by Arne Vajhøj

Post by bill
I frequently still glance thru my copies of the PDP-11 and VAX
Software Sourcebooks.  Are there still people offering software
for VMS or is it pretty much all in-house developed applications?

Yes.
Oracle - Rdb

What is the status of this for x86-64 VMS ?

We are still waiting for the x86-64 version.

Kevin Duffy presented at the boot camp last month.

I don't remember the exact dates, but I *think* that the beta test
begins some time in the 2nd half of 2025.

His presentation is available off the vmssoftware.com website.

The presentation does not mention beta test dates for Rdb on X86, but
slides 19, 20 have some information on the state of the port.

[Arne Vajhøj]

Post by Robert A. Brooks

Post by Arne Vajhøj

Post by Simon Clubley

Post by Arne Vajhøj

Post by bill
I frequently still glance thru my copies of the PDP-11 and VAX
Software Sourcebooks.  Are there still people offering software
for VMS or is it pretty much all in-house developed applications?

Yes.
Oracle - Rdb

What is the status of this for x86-64 VMS ?

We are still waiting for the x86-64 version.

Kevin Duffy presented at the boot camp last month.
I don't remember the exact dates, but I *think* that the beta test
begins some time in the 2nd half of 2025.
His presentation is available off the vmssoftware.com website.

Slide 32 indicate beta 24H2 and production 25H2.

which is much better.

Slide 21 - 26 describes the beta program.

Most interesting that they insist on Oracle Linux KVM
as VM!!

Arne

[Simon Clubley]

Post by Arne Vajhøj
Most interesting that they insist on Oracle Linux KVM
as VM!!

I've been looking at Oracle Linux. They are certainly very up to date
with their patches (at least so far) and there are arguments for using
Oracle Linux instead of one of the other rebuilds (Alma, Rocky) given
the size of the massive organisation behind it and the fact, as per
above, they are recommending it for use by some of their customers.

Simon.

[Robert B. Carleton]

Post by Simon Clubley

Post by Arne Vajhøj
Most interesting that they insist on Oracle Linux KVM
as VM!!

I've been looking at Oracle Linux. They are certainly very up to date
with their patches (at least so far) and there are arguments for using
Oracle Linux instead of one of the other rebuilds (Alma, Rocky) given
the size of the massive organisation behind it and the fact, as per
above, they are recommending it for use by some of their customers.
Simon.

I'd been kind of wondering about the Oracle/VSI relationship. My guess
is Oracle Cloud might be one of the most obvious places for Oracle Rdb
users to land eventually.

[Arne Vajhøj]

Post by Robert B. Carleton

Post by Simon Clubley

Post by Arne Vajhøj
Most interesting that they insist on Oracle Linux KVM
as VM!!

I've been looking at Oracle Linux. They are certainly very up to date
with their patches (at least so far) and there are arguments for using
Oracle Linux instead of one of the other rebuilds (Alma, Rocky) given
the size of the massive organisation behind it and the fact, as per
above, they are recommending it for use by some of their customers.

I'd been kind of wondering about the Oracle/VSI relationship. My guess
is Oracle Cloud might be one of the most obvious places for Oracle Rdb
users to land eventually.

There is a strong price incentive for that.

If I have understood Oracle licensing correct then:

on-prem Oracle Linux KVM - you pay for the cores in the VM
Oracle cloud - you pay for the cores in the VM
on-prem all other OS and VM - you pay for the cores in the physical box
all other cloud vendors - you pay for the cores in the physical box

Arne

[Simon Clubley]

Post by Simon Clubley

Post by Simon Clubley

Post by Arne Vajhøj
Synergex - DBL

Last time I saw this being discussed, that had not happened yet for x86-64
and it was unclear if it will.
Has there been a further update since then ?
There's nothing other than Alpha/IA64 on

https://www.synergex.com/platforms/
I have not heard anything new on that.
So they may fall off the list in 10 years. Or they may not.
I read Bill's question is being for today.

Unless they are still on Alpha and can use Alpha emulators, then it is
effectively for today. Itanium hardware will not last forever and there
is no Itanium full-system emulator (especially one that will run VMS)
that I am aware of.

In some ways, VMS users are actually in a better position if they stayed
on Alpha than if they moved to Itanium if their third-party product does
not exist on x86-64 VMS.

Simon.