I was an undergrad during the early '90s. Although I had plenty of access to computers on the campus network, I always lusted after real hardware of my own that I could run at home. Spent years at junk shops, auctions, and swap meets. Came really close to getting a number of systems working...except for that one part I could never find. Or software that was unobtainable. Or RD52s that last just about long enough to find out that my install media is corrupt. Little bitty disks, slow CPUs, not enough memory. Eventually gave up and donated most of my hardware to others who might carry the torch farther than I did.
But now, SIMH is like the promised land! Not just one machine brimming with tasty hardware, but as many as I want to instantiate! And between all of them, they occupy zero volume and have no mass. Moving a KL10B in the middle of the night was fun, but virtual machines that I can spin up and play with without becoming an equipment roadie and amateur plumber...Priceless.
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!
