HP must open source Tru64 goodies - users

[bemildred]

Having worked with Veritas, HP/UX, and Tru64, the last is the only
one I cared for, it was at least a conforming Unix, easy to work with
and port from and to. Hardware support was expensive for all of them,
of course. YMMV

So, the Tru64 era has ended at the hands of HP. Compaq/DEC's vaunted clustering and file system technology have been sent to the place where software dies, and Veritas has been adopted. HP's Inkvent agenda doesn't seem to support much Unix research and development these days - much to the dismay of the old Compaq hands and customers spread across the globe.

The great irony of this whole situation is that history is repeating itself in a big way. DEC bought a license for Veritas' file system many years ago in order to develop its own AdvFS (advanced file system). (Thanks for the reminder on that, Dave G.) Now HP is killing AdvFS and buying Veritas' file system again. This is a great business model for Veritas, and other ISVs should take notes on how they can best take advantage of the chaos that is post-Compaq merger HP.

Now to the letters. We asked for your feedback on HP's decision to let Tru64 customers down by reneging on past promises, and you provided said feedback with authority. We're going to take the unusual step of only using initials on these letters to protect those of you willing to speak out against HP. We hear that doesn't go over terribly well in Fiorinaville, and why punish the already punished.

Just to give you a taste of what is ahead, here is quite possibly the best reader statement we have ever received. "It’s a good thing that HP never acquired the rights to penicillin. If they had, mankind would have perished from widespread disease while HP tried to figure out how integrate it with anthrax."

Register UK

[TrogL]

1. I got out when the going was good

I switched to Solaris ages ago because DEC/COMPAQ/HP/Whatever they're called this week/ couldn't support TRU64. I was telling THEM how it worked.

[bemildred]

2. Well, I would not recommend them to anyone (any of them).

But the sources could have some useful bits, and as you
know, sometimes you get stuck with dealing with these things.
In fact, dealing with obsolete and badly supported poop can
pay quite well at times ...