[Info-vax] State of the OpenVMS hobbyist program?

[Alexander Schreiber]

Simon Clubley <clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP> wrote:
> On 2019-11-17, IanD <iloveopenvms at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Perhaps advance on from the Vax to an alpha?
>>
>> https://training.vmssoftware.com/hobbyist/
>>
>> It's more limited compared to the HP hobbyist program that used to include clustering as well but it's at least something from VSI after a long wait
>>
>
> This is more of a student turnkey system than a hobbyist kit.
>
> The real question is what happens when the licence in the kit expires.
>
> Can you load a new licence into your existing version of the kit
> (hence preserving your custom configuration) or are you expected to
> customise a new system disk from scratch whenever the VSI licences expire ?

What I understand from skimming their description is that once the license
expires, that kit is ... sorta dead. You are supposed to backup your files,
download a new licensed kit and reload your files from that backup.

> I asked that question here but never got an answer from VSI other than
> it was aimed as a student learning kit and not as a traditional
> experienced VMS hobbyist environment.

Yes, that's what I understood as well, it is intended as a student kit
for learning VMS that you discard once you're done with the lessons.

So, not exactly the kind of thing a hobbyist user would be looking for.

Kind regards,
            Alex.
-- 
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and
 looks like work."                                      -- Thomas A. Edison