The following is the text of a letter that was originally sent to the founders of the Hobbyist License program (circa. Jan., 1998). Except for some updates to correct statements that were true at the time but no longer reflect reality, the text is essentially unchanged.
Gentlemen,
My congratulations on your achievments in the area of the Hobbyists' License for OpenVMS. Although highly restrictive, to the point of being useful only to the freeware developer, and long over-due, this constitutes a major breakthrough. Three cheers for your work to date!
My purpose in writing is to propose a new level of affordable OpenVMS licensing, which I would encourage you to present to Compaq/Digital for serious consideration: The Home-Based Business (or Entrepreneur's) License for OpenVMS (aka Small Office / Home Office (SOHO) License for OpenVMS).
There are two basic reasons why PCs, MS-DOS and Windows dominate the home computer market, and not MicroVAXes, Alphas or VMS:
Ease of use is a matter of personal preference. I find most GUIs (including MS Windows) clumsy, time-consuming, resource demanding, inconsistent, poorly thought-out, poorly implemented, and ANYthing but intuitive - my opinion, your mileage may vary.
There are three basic reasons why more people develop software for MS-DOS and Windows than for any other platform:
BSD ("UNIX") for Intel is thriving, to the point that many web servers run FreeBSD or some BSD-on-Intel variant or Linux. Again, we find the same two reasons:
Right now, small VAXes and certain small Alphas are more affordable than they have ever been, mostly in the secondary ("after-") market. This can be expected to change, however, as the Hobbyists' License for OpenVMS may increase the demand for these machines which could raise prices and resale values. So, this may actually work against us in the short to mid-term.
Operating software for small VAXes, however, remains a problem. 4.4BSD for VAX and Alpha can be found on the web (http://www.netbsd.org/, http://www.openbsd.org/). Some BSD variants as well as Linux have been ported to Alpha with much success.
What is needed for the home-based software developer, as well as for web servers and other small business (end-)users, is an Affordable OpenVMS license - The Home-Based Business (or Entrepreneur's) License for OpenVMS (aka Small Office / Home Office (SOHO) License for OpenVMS).
How This Would Differ From the Hobbyist's License:
The primary restriction on the hobbyist's license, that it is for non-commercial use only, makes the Hobbyists' License For OpenVMS even less useful to the end-user or would-be developer than the license for MS-DOS, Windows, Windows/9x or Windows/NT, or any commercial flavor of Intel/UNIX currently on the market: you buy it once, and like any other tool, what you do with it is up to you. Linux and "free" UN*X flavors are generally free of most commercial restrictions.
What does one expect "for nothing"?
Well, the hobbyist's license is not really "free" or "for nothing":
That is to say, almost none of the typical criteria for "free" software can be applied. So, using the word "free" or the phrase "for nothing" ("no cost") is more than a little inappropriate. Also, since Internet access is almost a must for the hobbyist license, there are also the costs of your ISP, access software, your home computer (in addition to your hobbyist VMS platform), etc.
Therefore, the Home-Based Business (SOHO or Entrepreneur's) License for OpenVMS MUST be free of any and all restrictions that would not be placed on any other business user.
Secondly, the "Home-Based" in "Home-Based Business (SOHO or Entrepreneur's) License" MUST be borne in mind when determining pricing. One of my mentors holds that until you know value, everything is worthless. By way of a metaphor, a $1-million glass of water is worthless to a person dying of thirst who hasn't a penny to his name. The cost of the Home-Based Business (or Entrepreneur's) License for OpenVMS must be congruent with the scale of the client business. It is suggested that this cost not exceed $250 for a two-user base license, and two-user increments - up to a maximum of 32 users - not to exceed $250 per two-user increment.
Thirdly, this license is "permanent": it never expires, and if the machine is sold or transferred, the license stays with the machine, just like a traditional VMS license, or any PC or other system sold with it's software and hard disk intact.
Fourth, Digital support for OpenVMS must be made available, again on a scale of cost which is appropriate to the size of the client business. Digital's response to support issues must be NOT LESS than that which is received by Digital's largest, most demanding and most lucrative clients.
I've always had a rule for OpenVMS and related software: nothing purchased comes in the door without update service for both the software and the documentation, and telephone support.
Another metaphor to bear in mind in regard to pricing...
Go to the hardware store and buy a hammer. The merchant is entitled to the profit from the sale of the hammer, nothing more. He/she is NOT entitled to the profits from anything you make by using that hammer. However, the cost of the hammer must reflect the cost to produce it, plus a non-usurious margin of profit. How many carpenters can afford to buy hammers at $1,000 each (other than government employees or contractors, that is)?
The same holds true for the Home-Based Business (SOHO or Entrepreneur's) License for OpenVMS. Digital is entitled to a fair and reasonable profit for IT'S products and services, but is NOT entitled to any profits from MY products or services.
The Home-Based Business (SOHO or Entrepreneur's) License for OpenVMS holds the potential to revitalize a market which has lost and is still rapidly losing ground to inferior operating systems. OpenVMS is not dead (yet), but the road back to vitality will be a long, arduous, uphill trek, a battle every step of the way. Much of this perception of the passing of OpenVMS into EDP history is due to marketing. The Home-Based Business (SOHO or Entrepreneur's) License for OpenVMS is a natural for solving this problem, as well.
OpenVMS has always been too good to let die. The Home-Based Business (SOHO or Entrepreneur's) License for OpenVMS brings the chance to breathe new life into Digital, and into the OpenVMS market place.
The next great favor Compaq/Digital could do for itself?
An off-the-shelf, "shrink-wrapped" OpenVMS for VAX, Alpha and for Intel/x86.
You can get Linux at CompUSA (not less than three different distributions in a single, shrink-wrapped package). You can get FreeBSD at the bookstore or on the Internet. Yet, these are "free" operating systems! DOS and Windows are also sold retail, off-the-shelf.
Imagine if that tremendous market were at last opened up to OpenVMS... Build it - they WILL come!
Sincerely,
David J. Dachtera
dba DJE Systems,
djesys@earthlink.net,
http://home.earthlink.net/~djesys/
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