[Info-vax] OpenVMS Hobbyist licence - howto

[Curlsman]

Ade,

Welcome!

Here is the link to the Hobbyist page:
www.openvmshobbyist.org

To get license PAKs for the base OS and layered products for free, you
must belong to an HP user group.
In the UK it looks like that's:
www.hpug.org.uk
But they do seem to charge, all of which is what I expect you've
already found.

My US Connect memeberhsip expires next month, then then I'll find out
if there is a charge this year.
In the past, there was free memebership that allowed use of the
Hobbyist licenses,
and after being unemplyed for almost two years now, I'm sure I'll be
looking for it again.

The DEC terminals should work well for the console, but I've found
that a serial connection to your favorit laptop (Mac or Windo$e) will
help when entering the PAKS.  The email sent to you contains a DCL
procedure that can be transferred  through a terminal emulator as if
it's being typed.  For SIMH, you should be using a good terminal
emulator already...

For the 3100, most lower capacity SCSI disks should work, and there
are some issues with disks large than about 1GB:
http://labs.hoffmanlabs.com/node/541


Sean

On Dec 26, 7:10 am, AdeV <s... at solutionengineers.com> wrote:
> Hi froup,
>
> Once upon a many a blue moon ago, I used a VAX 8800 (at North Staffs
> Polytechnic, as it was then). And, despite the many intervening years, I
> still have fond memories of that machine. More recently, I (very
> briefly) had to support a Sybase database running on a VAX (can't
> remember what model), which rekindled my interest. On the back of that,
> I acquired a MicroVAX 3100, which languished in a box for many years.
>
> So, backstory over: I've recently downloaded simh, and got a copy of
> OpenVMS7.3 installed and seemingly running; but I don't have a licence.
> After much wandering around the 'net, it's obvious I need a hobbyist
> licence (I won't be doing anything commercial with the machine, just
> reliving happy DCL-related memories).
>
> 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?
>
> 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)?
>
> 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? 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?
>
> Many thanks in advance,
> Ade.
>
> PS: Happy christmas/holidays/newyear to all :)
> --
> Cheers!
> Ade.