openvms e-learning

[zmkm]

Hi All ,

Just a quick question about the openvms online e-learning , couple of years ago HP had on the website a Free interactive openvms e-tutorial I think it was called openvms introduction to managers or something like that , any way I've been trying to re-locate it recently but it seems that was removed or it's no longer available ? on the site ? , could any one please advise or confirm if it was indeed removed if not please provide the page link .

[Hoff]

There's nothing in this area available AFAIK. The free online introductory system management course was removed some time ago.

Here are the HP training pages:

http://h10076.www1.hp.com/education/openvms.htm

I'm one of the co-authors on a system management book, if you prefer that approach.

And there are various organizations around that provide HP OpenVMS training, in addition to HP.

Stephen Hoffman
HoffmanLabs LLC

[zmkm]

thanks for the information , too bad it was removed , I hope they will re consider restoring it , it was an an easy introdution to openvms , without the steep learning curve.

[Hoff]

Ignoring the issues of compensation and more of formal training settings, the User's Guide and the System Manager's Essentials manuals in the OpenVMS documentation set are the usual first stops I recommend to the folks that ask me this "free OpenVMS training" question. That, or attend one of the training courses that are available from HP and from other training vendors.

[DECxchange]

At the VMS prompt, type:

$ help hints

and select a topic from there.

Other than that, it helps to have a willing experienced VMS person available to tutor you on some of the basics, then go to a class, first on Utilities and Commands, then system management and/or Programming VMS In Languages (Fortran/Macro, Pascal, C, etc.).

I'm sure many of us have several of the training manuals dating back to the 80s (70s for some of you oldsters), but wouldn't be willing to give them up for free. They still apply to today's VMS, for the most part, if you're just doing basic VMS DCL commands and basic system management.

[Hoff]

DECxchange's recommendations to the contrary, HELP just isn't structured as nor intended as a tutorial. The HELP and HELP Hints is a little more than a DCL command syntax reminder, and not an adequate replacement for the cited on-line course nor more formal training.

The information provided by HELP pales in comparison to the tutorials and the task descriptions provided in the available OpenVMS manuals, and in the books. HELP itself is organized as a quick (mostly) DCL command reference, and not as introduction to typical tasks for an OpenVMS user or for an OpenVMS system manager.

[DECxchange]

Hoff,
I never wrote, or meant to imply, that the help facility can replace formal training. However, I work with a guy, whom you probably know, but I won't give his name in this forum (hint: he coauthored the VMS Certification Exam) who is basically "self taught" in VMS. He says that early in his career, his boss would not let him take formal VMS courses taught by Digital because "he already knew more than the courses taught". To be fair, he took some "internals" courses taught by Parsec.

I only suggested using help hints to get started getting familiar with VMS commands, in the absence of a PO to take formal courses costing thousands of dollars.

Why don't you just tell people to read the VMS manuals? After all, they are all online at openvms.org.

[Hoff]

I thought I did point over to the specific OpenVMS manuals, but I see I did not include the URL. Ah, well. FWIW, the OpenVMS manuals are not located at the OpenVMS.org web site though there was (is?) a link over to the manuals over there IIRC; the HP manuals are located over at the HP documentation web site:

http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/doc

[DECxchange]

Well, the nice thing about VMS is the commands are primarily English-like (I mean no offense to anybody whose native language is not English). That is why it is the preferred OS over (and not limited to) Unix (variants), MS Windows, MAC OS, LMAO.