Re: OpenVMS Alpha V8.2 distribution

From: John Santos (john_at_egh.com)
Date: 02/15/05 

Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 01:44:55 GMT

Schroeder, AJ wrote:
> <johnhreinhardt@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1108409898.537479.94860@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>
>>Jeff Goodwin wrote:
>>
>>>My OpenVMS Alpha V8.2 distribution arrived today.
>>>
>>>You'll all be happy to know that the box has a Java Compatible logo
>>
>>on it.
>>
>>>:)
>>>
>>>-Jeff
>>
>>Great! Now I wonder how long before they show up on Ebay so us
>>hobbyist types can get a copy...
>>
>
>
> Yes, where do us hobbyist types get copies of the newest VMS releases?

I'm getting mine by borrowing it from work :-)

It's perfectly all right to beg or borrow a copy. Stealing is frowned upon.

Conventional wisdom is that putting a copy of it up on the Internet so
people can download it is also right out.

I don't know if there has been an actual post from someone at HP or if
it is "obvious" (in the legalese sense of "obvious") from the hobbyist
license agreement that this is illegal, but I wouldn't chance it. If
it were okay, I think HP would put it up on their own web site if it
were okay, so people downloading it would have some assurance they were
getting the real thing and not a hacked trojan horse version or an
obsolete beta.

In the past, we have recieved two copies of most Alpha VMS kits, one
with our support contract and one as DSPP members. Often when we renew
the DSPP membership (annually) we get yet another copy of the latest
O/S kit. I bet this is where many of the Ebay kits come from. Most
sites really only need one copy. (I do like to keep two, though. It
really stinks to discover you've got a scratched CD at 2AM on a Sunday
morning in the middle of an upgrade.) 

-- 
John Santos
Evans Griffiths & Hart, Inc.
781-861-0670 ext 539