Article 139987 of comp.os.vms: Path: nntpd.lkg.dec.com!lead.zk3.dec.com!crl.dec.com!crl.dec.com!caen!uwm.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!swrinde!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!mvb.saic.com!info-vax From: petit_jp@decus.fr (Jean-Pierre PETIT - President SIG VMS) Newsgroups: comp.os.vms Subject: A paper on Windows NT / OpenVMS binary compatibility Message-ID: <96020915434734@decus.fr> Date: Fri, 9 Feb 1996 15:43:47 +0200 Organization: Info-Vax<==>Comp.Os.Vms Gateway X-Gateway-Source-Info: Mailing List Lines: 214 The following text is a paper on what opportunities Digital and the VMS community could take advantage of, given the affinity between Windows NT and OpenVMS. It also encompass some vision of what Digital could become or not, depending on its strategy. Most of the content is based upon feedback from the OpenVMS community in France. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jean-Pierre PETIT ESME-Sudria DECUS France 4 rue Blaise Desgoffe VMS systems SIG chair 75006 PARIS petit_jp@decus.fr FRANCE +33 1 45.48.03.70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OpenVMS / Windows NT affinity ----------------------------- The need for applications ------------------------- The end of the 80's has introduced a dramatic shift in the way investment decisions are made. The availability of applications and tools is now the major criteria where it used to be characteristics of the operating system and its underlying hardware platform. Once chosen for its qualities OpenVMS is now impaired by the lack of applications, ISVs being cutting down the cost generated by multi-platform support. The Win 32 API -------------- The Win 32 API on OpenVMS is a unique opportunity to give OpenVMS users the access to a lot of applications and utilities. The Windows world has plenty of them in almost any domain of interest. Does it solve the problem ? --------------------------- The Win 32 API is supposed to allow immediate porting of applications by simply recompiling the source code with no need to edit it. This sounds good, but lets have a look at the other sources of induced costs: 1. The newly compiled code must be tested because some hidden bugs may show up on a different architecture. 2. The binaries must either be included in an existing package (CD-ROM) or made available in a separate package (floppy disks) . 3. The OpenVMS platform must be supported by the ISV's support center. And for all this points to apply, the ISV must be aware of the existence of the OpenVMS platform and convinced that it does represent a market large enough to justify the expense of the port and support. In other terms, whether it would prove to be profitable or not, the initial step will never get done because of inertia. Lets have a look to other APIs and the relationship between availability of a given API on OpenVMS and the availability of applications built on top of this API. First, we had the Xwindows/Motif API. As far as DEC extensions are not used, any applications written in ANSI C using this API can be ported on OpenVMS by simply recompiling the source code. Did that provide the OpenVMS community with a lot of applications ? The answer is NO, and it looks like applications ported a few years ago will no longer be supported. Then we got the POSIX API. How many ISV's applications did that bring to the OpenVMS community ? Well, I am still looking for such a list ! Clearly, the availability of an API on a given platform is in no way a guaranty for the availability of applications. Binary compatibility -------------------- There is a better way to start the process of regaining applications, and it is named "binary compatibility". The aim is to be able to use any application without recompiling. What that means is that ISV's are no longer involved in the initial start-up of the process since binary compatibility enables anybody to put any existing software right out of the box on a new platform. This is the way for the OpenVMS community to get applications first and then prove to the ISV's that the market does exists and that it must be supported. All success stories have followed this bottom-up approach as opposed to the lots of failures in trying the other way (top-down approach which means trying to impose a standard to a market which don't care about it). Not yet convinced ? Think about the "OSI Vs TCP/IP" case. Let's examine the two flavors of binary compatibility (I will not examine software emulation because of its poor performances). Binary translation While it is a new technique, it has proved to be viable in the VAX to Alpha transition. Digital has the needed expertise to extend that technique to the translation of Windows NT executables into Alpha OpenVMS images. However, it does require some work in order to get the application run, and this can't be done by end users. Moreover, binary translation involves remapping of data which can reveal hidden bugs. Activating NT executables on OpenVMS Given the lots of similarities between WIndows NT and OpenVMS, it is conceivable to directly activate an NT/Alpha executable under OpenVMS/Alpha. · Windows NT address space is very similar to OpenVMS/VAX address space which is included in OpenVMS/Alpha address space. · The OpenVMS image activator can be modified to be able to recognize native Windows NT executable files. · Windows DLLs are very similar to OpenVMS shareable images. · Standard Win 32 API is already provided as part of the affinity program. Being more ambitious: Digital in the next years ----------------------------------------------- Learn from the recent past The request for more standards has led to a great consumption of development resources. As de juro standards are always a matter of tradeoffs between opposite concerns and commercial issues, the net result tend to be a real monster (OSI networking, POSIX, etc...). This never makes the computer industry progress in terms of innovation. The time devoted to standard has never helped improve productivity and often has even reduced it (monsters are not that easy to domesticate). Years ago, Digital used to be an innovative company. It has spent the last few years running behind standards. It has loosed its uniqueness and consequently a lot of its customers. Not taking that into account will lead Digital to only one activity : selling boxes. This doesn't require as many people as Digital now has; so, be prepared for more layoffs. Invent a new style of computing With the ability to run on OpenVMS platforms any Windows application bought directly from the nearest computer shop just round the corner, a network of X-terminals linked to an OpenVMS cluster could be a very strong, high availability, very easy to manage alternative to the hardly manageable, and support efforts consuming networks of PCs we all know about. An ethernet cluster of workstations (formerly known as LAVc) is the world most easy to manage, most secure and most available configuration. This makes it in fact the most cost effective solution because it has no hidden costs. UNIX is now impaired by its lack of personal productivity applications and its poor user interface. Almost every analyst is predicting a decrease in UNIX market share. Windows NT is lacking a great bunch of functionalities and will probably need from 5 to 10 years to be a mature and fully featured operating system. OpenVMS has a role to play because it can conciliate those two different worlds with such things as 1170 API, Win 32 API and Internet Ready software. The key to the success Digital should immediately stop doing the following : · taking directions that are only dictated by the will of making the predictions of some analysts happen · staying in the shadow of Mr Bill - Digital must stand apart from Microsoft unless it wants to end up selling boxes with less and less employees, narrowing margins and declining revenues Digital should concentrate on delivering more and more base operating system functionalities because only analysts are stupid enough to think the operating system is no longer the problem (Windows 95 is a good example of how operating system evolution is a key to sales and profit). Digital should communicate on OpenVMS unique functionalities and continue to invent the style of computing of tomorrow. Digital should learn from the Microsoft example that the most important thing is to make people dream... Jean-Pierre PETIT DECUS France VMS systems SIG chair petit_jp@decus.fr