[Info-vax] OpenVMS Hobbyist licence - howto

[Steven Schweda]

AdeV wrote:

> After much wandering around the 'net, [...]

   Did you ever wander this far?:

      http://www.openvmshobbyist.com/

> As far as I can tell, a Hobbyist licence will now cost me $50 (or £45,
> being based in Rip-Off-Britain) per year; is that the case, or is it
> actually still available free & I'm misreading something somewhere?

   I don't know.  I got a free DECUS membership long ago, so I
haven't needed to worry about what's true where lately.

> Also, what's the swiftest way to obtain the necessary PAK codes
> (obviously, I'd like some apps to run on the machine, and ideally some
> programming languages over & above DCL)?

      http://www.openvmshobbyist.com/viewpage.php?page_id=2
      http://www.openvmshobbyist.com/licenses.php

> Now, my plan is to start off using simh; but eventually, I'd like to
> migrate to the real VAX (i.e. the uVAX 3100). I have a variety of dumb
> terminals. including a couple of genuine DEC terminals; will I be able
> to install using one of those, or will I need a special console?

   Any normal serial terminal should work.

>  Also;
> there's a CDROM in the base unit, but no hard drive. Will any SCSI unit
> do, or does it need to be a special DEC item?

      http://www.hoffmanlabs.com/vmsfaq/

Within limits, almost anything should work.  A more complete
description than "3100" might be useful in determining those
limits.