HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program is closing

[Zane Healy]

> On Mar 7, 2020, at 9:07 AM, John H. Reinhardt <johnhreinhardt at thereinhardts.org> wrote:
> 
> On 3/7/2020 8:10 AM, Zane Healy wrote:
>> On Mar 7, 2020, at 5:00 AM, Michael Kerpan via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk at classiccmp.org>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Well that's sad news. Since VMS Software may or may not ever launch a
>>> proper hobbyist program and has stated that they don't have the ability to
>>> issue licenses for VAX versions of VMS, that means we have until 2021 to
>>> legally use VMS on the vintage hardware or emulations. After that, I guess
>>> we will have to either sail the seven seas or learn to love 4.3BSD...
>>> 
>>> Mike
>> If VSI doesn’t have the ability to issue VAX versions of the VMS license, will it be possible to buy VAX licenses?  I’m curious as about five years ago, I had to help buy VAX/VMS licenses for a project.
>> Zane
> 
> On the HECnet list, David Moylan had sent an inqujiry to the OpenVMS Customer Lab and got this as a response
> 
> "  Users who wish to avail of HPE OpenVMS long term licenses are encouraged to
> 
>  purchase permanent licenses at standard prices. You may contact [Fellman, Jon]
> 
>  <jon.fellman at hpe.com> for the same."
> 
> 
> So this HP person, Jon Fellman looks like the person to ask about buying an OpenVMS VAX license.  I've sent him an email but I don't expect a response until Monday at least.  The "standard prices" part doesn't' look encouraging.
> 
> -- 
> John H. Reinhardt
 
The thing is, most people don’t know they need a real VAX/VMS license, until they find themselves doing something that will require it at some point in the future.  It’s not a normal need, but it is one I’ve seen.  I sure can’t justify buying any right now.

Zane