[quesomaster9000]

Right, but z/OS is part of a larger longer-running hardware strategy that, with virtualization, serves the needs of mixed-OS workloads and multi-decade tenures overseeing 24/7 systems.

The corpse of OpenVMS on the other hand is being reanimated and tinkered with, presumably paid for by whatever remaining support contracts exist, and also presumably to keep the core engineers occupied with inevitably fruitless busywork while occasionally performing the contractually required on-call technomancy on the few remaining Alpha systems.

VMS is dead... and buried, deep.

It's a shame it can't be open-sourced, just like Netware won't be open-sourced, and probably has less chance of being used for new projects than RiscOS or AmigaOS.

[icedchai]

I also disagree. Porting VMS to x86-64 was a huge endeavor. They wouldn't have bothered unless there were at least a few big customers to make it worth it. Otherwise, why not go with emulation? There are commercially supported Alpha and VAX emulators for x86.

[lproven]

I disagree.

It's in active development. They're putting out new versions and selling licenses.

There are much deader OSes out there than VMS, such as Netware.

I suspect that there are more fresh deployments than there are of Xinuos's catalogue: OpenServer 5, 6, and UnixWare 7.

https://www.xinuos.com/products/

Last updated 2018...

[bigbuppo]

A few years ago I actually purchased a Netware license, right at the start of Covid. It was an ordeal, and not because of Covid. Multiple retailers and distributors stopped selling Netware/Attachmate/Micro Focus products because of that purchase. Micro Focus was completely uninterested in handling Netware sales in any way, shape, or form, except to existing customers with big maintenance contracts.

I can also speak from personal experience that it was just that side of Micro Focus that was uninterested in making any sales. The AMC (cobol compilers) division was great and I'm happy they ended up at Rocket after the OpenText merger.