Okay, time for me to jump into the fray, with my standard Shameless
Plug Alert (tm) -- I am a CHARON-AXP reseller.

First, I'm not like a 3-year-old -- with him, having a hammer means
everything needs pounding. If moving to Itanium is possible, you
should definitely consider it. I've migrated applications to
Integrity -- I don't just do CHARON.

> (*) Stan Quayle can send me some "gift" should you choose that avenue
Thanks, JF. I give out "finder's fees" to people who bring me an
opportunity that I didn't find myself.

> Just for kicks, ask for a emulator quote offline for a VAX 6600 6
> processor license costs (and that would be separate from the VMS
> licensing component of course).
Good point, Kerry. Where else can you get a 700+ VUP VAX? Not from
HP, and certainly not eBay. The biggest that anyone has needed so
far has been a 2-processor version. And they were thrilled to get it
-- saved them gobs of floor space, electricity, and air conditioning.
And, by the way, thousands a month in hardware maintenance.

> most 8086 based stuff (64 bit or not) has been manufactured dirt- cheap
> and very rarely supports server- quality features like hardware-based
> error-detection on memory, caches and I/O channels.
Yep, Neil, you get what you pay for. HP makes some very nice servers
with all the goodies you mention. But I can't force the customer to
buy quality. So, that's not a reason not to emulate, just a reason
to educate.

> Because Digital didn't properly handled the the VAX - Alpha transition
Tom, I don't think anyone here would disagree with your statement. I
finally ported a client's application from VAX to Alpha just a couple
of years ago. The tools and techniques are MUCH better now. Moving
from Alpha to Itanium is even less painful (usually).

> large VAXen planning to keep them in service past 2020.
And about those finder's fees... :-)


So, tadamsmar, the choice is yours. Be glad you have a choice!


--Stan Quayle
Quayle Consulting Inc.

----------
Stanley F. Quayle, P.E. N8SQ Toll free: 1-888-I-LUV-VAX
8572 North Spring Ct., Pickerington, OH 43147 USA
stan-at-stanq-dot-com http://www.stanq.com/charon-vax.html
"OpenVMS, when downtime is not an option"