Current state of OpenVMS Hobbyist Program

[lenticularis]

Hi,

is the OpenVMS Hobbyist Program still active? I filled out the form at https://www.hpe.com/h41268/live/index_e.aspx?qid=24548 and got an automatic reply from no-reply@hp.com (not hpe.com) saying:

"An auto-acknowledgement will be sent to you to confirm your e-mail address and to confirm that we have received your inquiry. If you do not receive an auto-acknowledgement after 1 hour, please re-submit your inquiry and verify that you've entered the correct e-mail address."

I sent it yesterday and as of now I have not received any reply. openvmshobbyist.com, which is referenced by some of the older posts on this forum, states at https://www.openvmshobbyist.com/news.php?readmore=39 that we should use the HPE form. Is this the expected behavior or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks,

Tom

[Maurizio De Tommaso_ · Accepted solution]

Yep, OpenVMS Hobbyist Program is alive.

if you do not receive a response from HPE within a reasonable time, try using http://plato.ccsscorp.com/hobbyist_registration.php instead of https://www.hpe.com/h41268/live/index_e.aspx?qid=24548.

Please, keep us updated.

/Maurizio

[lenticularis]

Thank you for your response.

I'll wait for some time, then try the other form and update on how it went..

Tom

[lenticularis]

Update: I got the reply with the PAKs and additional information from the OpenVMS Customer Lab (this time correctly @HPE.com).  I've also sent a reply notifying them of the misleading automatic response. I'm looking forward to learning about OpenVMS.

Thank you again for your help,

Tom

[JeffVMS]

I received this e-mail yesterday, March 6, from openvmscustomerlab@hpe.com

"

Dear HPE OpenVMS hobbyist,

This is to inform you that HPE is concluding the HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program in alignment with the HPE OpenVMS support roadmap.

If you wish to understand more details, please reach out to us at the earliest through the usual license renewal webpage.

Thank you.

HPE OpenVMS team

"

Can someone, preferably from HPE, explain this ? Will get get perpetual licenses? Will he have to set our system date to 2020 forever ?

[Volker Halle]

Please also see the discussion in the comp.os.vms newgroup:

https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=de#!topic/comp.os.vms/_yh0_u7Vtj8

Volker.

[Maurizio De Tommaso_]

VSI Announces Community License Updates

Hello VMS Nation!

As promised, here is an update on where we are with the Community License Program (or CLP as we like to call it). First the not so good news: We cannot deliver any VAX/VMS versions under this program. VAX/VMS is still an HPE product and under the terms of our agreement we cannot deliver this product.

Now the good stuff! We are well along the path of defining the program. Currently we are working out how to deliver PAKs and kits to members of the program, and once we’ve completed this task we will be pretty much ready to go. The kick-off date will to an extent be decided by the community; if there is enough demand we can get things started soon after the delivery mechanism is sorted out (remember the Hobbyist license doesn’t come to an end until December/2020).

Finally, the really good stuff! When we are ready to deliver OpenVMS 9.1 on x86 (towards the end of 2020) we are going to make this available to members of the CLP. We are already trying some very interesting (but secretive) stuff inhouse with the early versions of 9.0, and I’m sure CLP members will find even more ways of exploiting 9.1 (remember that 9.1 will not be a full fat version of OpenVMS and will not have all the functionality normally found in the OS; that will be there in 9.2).

---

VMS Software Community License Available

VMS Software Inc. is excited to announce the availability of the OpenVMS Community License that allows the OpenVMS community members (hobbyists, non-commercial software developers, and others) to obtain an OpenVMS license free of charge.

The community license is distributed on an application basis (fill in the application here) and valid for one year. Use of the license is governed by the EULA. At the moment, the license can be installed on real and emulated Alpha and Integrity systems; OpenVMS x86 licenses will be available later as more stable versions of OpenVMS are released for this architecture.

https://vmssoftware.com/services/community-license

https://vmssoftware.com/about/news/2020-06-11-community-license-updates/

https://vmssoftware.com/about/news/2020-07-28-community-license/

https://vmssoftware.com/

I hope this helps,

/Maurizio

[lenticularis]

Thank you for the update. I applied for the program a few days ago and got the response today - that's really quick, especially in comparison with the original Hobbyist Program.