RT-11 - An Open letter to Mentec?

From: Chuck McManis <cmcmanis_at_mcmanis.com>
Date: Mon Apr 16 17:09:56 2001

I saw this one Jerome... at 14:54PDT (GMT-7:00hrs)

I don't think Mentec is in a very good place. On the one hand they have
declining revenues from RT-11 and RSX-11M (and perhaps even the 11 clones)
and on the other hand they have a bunch of folks who would like to be
hobbyists using these systems.

I can sympathize with their plight as a business. Unfortunately I believe
they are now caught in a "death spiral." Given their condition, I offer the
following predictions:
         1) There will never be a Hobbyist license for RT-11 or RSX-11
                 Their words not withstanding, in "death spiral" mode they can
                 only support things that provide _direct_ revenue. Things like
                 a Hobbyist program or newsletter are indirect at best.
         2) There will never be an unencumbered PDP-11 implementation

At some point in the future Mentec will consist of some papers of
incorporation, a box of preprinted cease-and-desist letters, and a lawyer.
These papers and letters will sit in a drawer of a file cabinet. Whenever
something related to RT-11, RSX-11, or PDP-11s happens visibly, the lawyer
will fire off a letter threatening suit and that activity will stop (or
perhaps generate a bit of revenue). I know a couple of corporations that
have made it to this state and unfortunately there is no way to "fix" them,
except by paying said lawyer an immense amount of money and then releasing
the intellectual property yourself.

Sad really,
--Chuck


At 05:40 PM 4/16/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>Is this a duplicate message? I sent it at 16:04:04 - 04:00 (EDT) just
>over 92 minutes
>ago! Either <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org> did not receive it or (more
>likely) my ISP
Received on Mon Apr 16 2001 - 17:09:56 BST