Posts: 2 Location: Hamilton, New Zealand Joined: 14.02.06
Posted on February 14 2006 21:48
Hello, Im David Goodwin and I live in Hamilton, New Zealand. I finished High School last year and am starting a Computer Science degree at the Waikato University this year.
I am interested in stuff made by Digital Equipment Corporation and RISC workstations along with linux, software development, networking, etc. Ive never had the chance to use OpenVMS but I hope to change that some time soon.
I dont have access to any systems that could run VMS at the moment - Ive never seen a VAX in real life and my only Alpha is a digital Multia with no SCSI, 16MB RAM, a 2GB harddisk, a floppy drive and no way of getting an OS onto it (as far as I know). I am currently trying to get my hands on a VAX but it seems that that there arent many unwanted systems (VAX or Alpha) lying arround near where I live and I cant afford to spend a great deal of money on purchasing systems or getting them shipped great distances. Ive only ever seen one VAX for sale on trademe.co.nz (like ebay) and it was expensive just like the occasional alphas that appear from time to time.
Hopefuly some time soon I will be able to get my hands on a VAX or Alpha which I could use to learn OpenVMS on - when that happens I will probabily visit here occasionaly.
Posts: 134 Location: Hopedale, MA USA Joined: 15.12.05
Posted on February 15 2006 00:39
[quote:2ad18ccfd4="Randomize"]Hello, Im David Goodwin and I live in Hamilton, New Zealand. I finished High School last year and am starting a Computer Science degree at the Waikato University this year.
I am interested in stuff made by Digital Equipment Corporation and RISC workstations along with linux, software development, networking, etc. Ive never had the chance to use OpenVMS but I hope to change that some time soon. [/quote:2ad18ccfd4]
It's great to see a young person take an interest in VMS!
[quote:2ad18ccfd4="Randomize"]I dont have access to any systems that could run VMS at the moment - Ive never seen a VAX in real life and my only Alpha is a digital Multia with no SCSI, 16MB RAM, a 2GB harddisk, a floppy drive and no way of getting an OS onto it (as far as I know). I am currently trying to get my hands on a VAX but it seems that that there arent many unwanted systems (VAX or Alpha) lying arround near where I live and I cant afford to spend a great deal of money on purchasing systems or getting them shipped great distances. Ive only ever seen one VAX for sale on trademe.co.nz (like ebay) and it was expensive just like the occasional alphas that appear from time to time.
Hopefuly some time soon I will be able to get my hands on a VAX or Alpha which I could use to learn OpenVMS on - when that happens I will probabily visit here occasionaly.[/quote:2ad18ccfd4]
There are "public access" VMS systems available; you can obtain a minimally-privileged account for free, and using the available online resources, (e.g., OpenVMS FAQ, documentation set, etc.) you can teach yourself the basics of the environment. Minimally-privileged users can still compile, link, and debug code without issue, on a properly-configured system.
The two "public access" systems that I use regularly are:
TELNET to gein.vistech.net (username and password NEWUSER to register for an account)
TELNET to eisner.decuserve.org (username REGISTRATION to register for an account)
Both systems have a number of knowledgeable folks who can sometimes help with newbie-type questions. Good luck!
Posts: 2 Location: Hamilton, New Zealand Joined: 14.02.06
Posted on February 15 2006 23:29
Well, ive spent a few hours playing arround with OpenVMS on gein.vistech.net and I see that I will have to get myself some hardware so I can have a go at installing, configuring and running an OpenVMS system .
So far ive compiled a C++ "Hello World!" application, spent 20 minutes trying to find out how to get out of LSEdit, stumbled onto the create command while attempting to create a new directory, tested out what appears to be file versioning, spent a while reading through stuff using notes, found that ~ appears to point to the home directory like on UNIX, and probabily spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out DCL until I decided it would be better if i just came back after reading some documentation.
[quote:1d288dfa83="Randomize"]Well, ive spent a few hours playing arround with OpenVMS on gein.vistech.net and I see that I will have to get myself some hardware so I can have a go at installing, configuring and running an OpenVMS system .
So far ive compiled a C++ "Hello World!" application, spent 20 minutes trying to find out how to get out of LSEdit, stumbled onto the create command while attempting to create a new directory, tested out what appears to be file versioning, spent a while reading through stuff using notes, found that ~ appears to point to the home directory like on UNIX, and probabily spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out DCL until I decided it would be better if i just came back after reading some documentation.[/quote:1d288dfa83]
How's the reading going? :-) The User's Guide is very useful as a tutorial "tool" (e.g., log on to your public access VMS account, and try out the examples in the Guide, and make up some of your own). The SET and SHOW commands are a good jumping-off point, and I see you've already had a go at compiling.
<ctrl-Z> is the usual method for exiting an application. CREATE and CREATE/DIRECTORY lend some "fun" to the learning process. HELP is your friend in DCL, but access to a resource like the User's Guide, or <http://dcl.openvms.org> can also be HELPful.
Good luck, and ask away, if you have more questions.
malmberg August 04 2022 No more VAX hobbyist licenses. Community licenses for Alpha/IA64/X86_64 VMS Software Inc. Commercial VMS software licenses for VAX available from HPE.
ozboomer July 20 2022 Just re-visiting.. No more hobbyist licenses? Is that from vmssoftware.com, no 'community' licenses?
valdirfranco July 01 2022 No more hobbyist license...sad
mister_wavey February 12 2022 I recall that the disks failed on the public access VMS systems that included Fafner
parwezw January 03 2022 Anyone know what happened to FAFNER.DYNDS.ORG? I had a hobbyist account here but can longer access the site.
gtackett October 27 2021 Make that DECdfs _2.1A_ for Vax
gtackett October 27 2021 I'm looking for DECdfs V2.4A kit for VAX. Asking here just in case anyone is still listening.
MarkRLV September 17 2021 At one time, didn't this web site have a job board? I would love to use my legacy skills one last time in my career.
malmberg January 18 2021 New Hobbyist PAKs for VAX/VMS are no longer available according to reports. Only commercial licenses are reported to be for sale from HPE
dfilip January 16 2021 Can someone please point me to hobbyist license pak? I'm looking for VAX/VMS 7.1, DECnet Phase IV, and UCX/TCPIP ... have the 7.1 media, need the license paks ... thanks!
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