Slashdot Mirror

Watch for various VAXen on ebay for just a couple of hundred, though sometimes comp.os.vms will have someone giving something away. Then free OpenVMS licenses and software through the Hobbyist Program, http://www.openvmshobbyist.com/news.php

Instead of FreeVMS which isn't ready for prime time... Get the OpenVMS hobbiest edition, load up SimH and run OpenVMS on a real emulated Vax. For fun you could boot OpenBSD, NetBSD or BSD4.x on the emulated Vax.

As far as Solaris vs. BSD -- I run 'em both here. Solaris mostly on Sparc and BSD on x86. I've done Solaris x86
and it's ok, but it's really fun to set up a jumpstart server and load up some old Sparcs.

I've even got SunOS 4.1.4 up...

Take a look at the software available on the http://www.openvmshobbyist.com/ site. A ton of VMS languages including C, ADA, Pascal, Macro32... TCP/IP and Clustering.

http://simh.trailing-edge.com/

You know that at one time that unix was fairly specialized and cost a boatload of money :)
http://www.openvmshobbyist.com/
Is a link to where you can get a free as in beer copy of VMS for you Alpha, VAX, or Itanium system you have sitting in the hall closet :)

Okay it isn't as cool as 386i version would be but it is better than nothing. I wonder if I could run it on a Vax Emulator.... Scary stuff.

I just wanted to state for the record OSS does not always equal super reliable and closed source does always equal Windows level security and reliability.

Why not start with a real operating system that already comes with both features? VMS (also known as OpenVMS) version 8.2 was released a few months ago and runs on VAX, Alpha and Itanium. You should be able to find a fairly cheap VMS machine at sites like eBay. For hobbyists and educational purposes the VMS license is available at no charge. Have a look at http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/ http://www.openvmshobbyist.com/ http://www.openvmsedu.com/ news:comp.os.vms

Hey, Linux bugs are free! Their Microsoft cousins have to appease Red China.
http://www.webpronews.com/news/ebusinessnews/wpn-4 5-20050613MicrosoftBlocksWordsToAppeaseRedChina.ht ml

Get real, get VMS! http://www.openvmshobbyist.com/

One other suggestion I'll make: you can run VMS either on a VAX (or an Alpha), or on Bob Supnik's SIMH emulator, and at least save yourself the hassle of reverse engineering the save file format. You can find info on the VMS Hobbyist License program at the OpenVMS Hobbyist Program site.

If you get a TK50-compatible SCSI drive, you can either attach it directly to the VMS system or else copy the tape data to a disk image file and process it from there.

Some of us remember when students spent often months or years to port their thesis project from one unix to another one. BSD, Ultrix, Digital Unix, OSF/1, Tru64, now HP/UX or maybe Solaris, SunOS, AIX, FreeBSD, NetBSD, or Linux. You name it. Even two Linux versions from different distributors are not compatible. Not to mention the time wasted with miserable tools like gdb, dbx etc.. Every time the new system was The Future system. And every time it was migration season, followed by a rude awakening. Not only did the names change. Even most simple things like string manipulation changed. Sure you can write an ANSI C application, but unfortunately that is not always Posix compatible. Remember Posix? THE unix standard - dream. How much frustration. If you spend your valuable time on doing the Unix-to-Unix migration yourself, then you will find out the truth! There are research projects which spent years just on porting their software from one unix to another unix flavor, just to realize that the funding agencies had enough.

(Open)VMS is and will always be VMS, not Unix. There is only one VMS standard. That is good! It saved many smart people a lot of time.

Remember what was one of the most important reasons for universities to drop VMS in the past? Licenses! But let's do a reality check: today universities and labs pay tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for RedHat Linux. They really do! Sure, some students know they can download Linux for free. But do they tell their advisor that they spend weeks and months on installation, configuration, updates and other daily trouble? Let's be honest!

Did you know that you can get a VMS compatible computer with Alpha processor at eBay for cheap and, the VMS licenses from HP even for free? VMS is professional software. That includes compilers and many other first class tools. VMS software tools are excellent. And if you want it really cheap, then replace the hardware with an emulator for free (like SIMH), just to get started today. So you get all you need to study a modern alternative. For free!

Why would any student want to miss what experts appreciate at stock exchanges, agencies like the NSA, health care providers, and many other places were performance, reliability, security and organization is everything? These experts know why they use VMS. Do you know what you are missing? The lemmings follow the lemmings who have seen only one system, or maybe two, and pretend to be experts. If Linux Master Installer or MCSE and an average curriculum vitae is not good enough for you, then have a look at VMS.

Remember why people ditched VMS? That's right. Licenses. Ironical, isn't it?

One more question for the women among the students here: would you ever call for a "man" or even type "man" into a computer to get help? :-) Well, on a VMS system you enter HELP and help is what you get. A lot of excellent help!

Now, move your mouse cursor to http://www.openvmsedu.com/ if you are a student or teacher. Talk to your school! And those of you who like to be more than dead meat at the weekend go to http://www.openvmshobbyist.com/ This is cool free stuff from experts.

Oh, and of course the Bill Gates followers find themselves home at http://www.trustworthycomputing.com/

Cheers!

I got that fortune, too. VMS will never die. The OpenVMS Hobbyist Program will keep it alive!

And please, don't be put off by VMS because DCL = your first exposure to a VMS system - feels more awkward than bash (in many ways, it certainly is!). It's in the underlying architecture of the OS where the fruits of tight engineering are really demonstrated.