# OpenVMS

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/openvms/

5 people recommended OpenVMS in Hacker News comments, 2 had mixed feelings and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 12 months, in 4 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Criticized more than recommended: the most common complaint is that it is proprietary and costs money for commercial use; those who recommend it cite its file locking, asynchronous operations, ACL security and long uptime records.

Summary written by Claude from the comments below.

## What people warn about

- Proprietary and costly for commercial use (2 comments in the sample): "It’s a bit unfortunate the company behind the OS needs to make money off its licenses though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48971954)) "And still, like OpenVMS, heavily proprietary." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45989557))

## Why people recommend it

- Fans who like its design (3 comments in the sample): "Both screenshots of Windows 2000 and OpenVMS are in my opinion the peak UI's." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48800743)) "I was a big fan of the CLD method of defining commands." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48043451)) "I like OpenVMS and am slowly learning more about it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47999480))
- Reliability, file locking, security (2 comments in the sample): "Proper file locking, asynchronous operations across everything, ACL based security, proper ABI." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47500624)) "VMS often achieved five nines over 10 years (99.999%" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47625374))

## Other operating systems people recommend

- [Linux](https://hackerapproved.com/p/linux/): 597 recommend, 106 mixed, 243 criticize
- [Windows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/windows/): 537 recommend, 415 mixed, 3187 criticize
- [macOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macos/): 521 recommend, 333 mixed, 1695 criticize
- [FreeBSD](https://hackerapproved.com/p/freebsd/): 243 recommend, 65 mixed, 73 criticize

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://vmssoftware.com/)

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "OpenVMS", https://hackerapproved.com/p/openvms/ (5 recommend, 2 mixed, 8 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.