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The following folks are the HP corporate contacts for OpenVMS business issues, listed in descending order from Carleton (Carly) Fiorina to the Vice President of the OpenVMS Engineering organization:
These folks will quite obviously respond best to cogently-worded
OpenVMS corporate-level business issues. These folks are noit
appropriate contacts for any OpenVMS technical support issues nor for
any OpenVMS technical support requests, nor for any other
non-corporate-related, non-business-related issues.
1.5.2 OpenVMS Ambassadors?
The OpenVMS Ambassadors are senior HP engineers with advanced technical knowledge and advanced training in OpenVMS, with detailed knowledge of current and future OpenVMS releases and product plans, and with contacts directly with the HP and ISV hardware and software engineering organizations developing OpenVMS and OpenVMS hardware platforms, as well as layered products and tools. Further, Ambassadors are experienced with integrating HP OpenVMS and application-specific products and ISV applications to solve specific business requirements.
OpenVMS Ambassadors are based throughout the world.
Your HP sales representative or HP reseller will be able connect you
with your local OpenVMS Ambassador.
1.5.3 Contact for OpenVMS Marketing Issues and Questions?
Please see Section 3.5.
1.5.4 Contact URLs for OpenVMS Technical Issues?
For technical issues and technical support, please contact your software support organization, or your local HP Customer Support Center or HP Reseller. In North America, you can call 1-800-OK-COMPAQ.
Please remember to review and to bookmark the following support URLs:
OpenVMS, originally called VMS (Virtual Memory System), was first conceived in 1976 as a new operating system for the then-new, 32-bit, virtual memory line of computers, eventually named VAX (Virtual Address eXtension).
The first VAX model, the 11/780, was code-named "Star", hence the code name for the VMS operating system, "Starlet", a name that remains to this day the name for the system library files (STARLET.OLB, etc.).
VMS version X0.5 was the first released to customers, in support of the hardware beta test of the VAX-11/780, in 1977. VAX/VMS Version V1.0 shipped in 1978, along with the first revenue-ship 11/780s.
OpenVMS was designed entirely within HP and specifically within the former Digital Equipment Corporation (DIGITAL). Two of the principal designers were Dave Cutler and Dick Hustvedt, though with a wide variety of other contributors. OpenVMS was conceived as a 32-bit, virtual memory successor to the RSX-11M operating system for the PDP-11. Many of the original designers and programmers of OpenVMS had worked previously on RSX-11M, and many concepts from RSX-11M were carried over to OpenVMS.
OpenVMS VAX is a 32-bit, multitasking, multiprocessing virtual memory operating system. Current implementations run on VAX systems from HP and other vendors.
OpenVMS Alpha is a 64-bit multitasking, multiprocessing virtual memory operating system. Current implementations run on Alpha systems from HP, and other vendors.
Work to port OpenVMS to systems based on the Intel IA-64 architecture and specifically to the Itanium Processor Family is presently underway.
For more details on OpenVMS and its features, please read the OpenVMS Software Product Description at:
Additional information on the general features of various OpenVMS releases, release dates, as well as the development project code names of specific releases, is available at:
Additional historical information---as well as pictures and a variety of other trivia---is available in the VAX 20th anniversary book:
For information on the FreeVMS project, and on hobbyist and educational versions of OpenVMS, please see:
Also please see the related software licensing topics Section 2.7.4,
Section 2.7.1, and Section 2.14.
2.2 What is the difference between VMS and OpenVMS?
VMS and OpenVMS are two names for the same operating system. Originally, the operating system was called VAX-11/VMS; it changed to VAX/VMS at around VAX/VMS V2.0. When the VMS operating system was ported to the Alpha platform, it was renamed OpenVMS, for both VAX and Alpha (and for the Itanium Processor Family), in part to signify the high degree of support for industry standards such as POSIX, which provides many features of UNIX systems.
For those versions with POSIX, an OpenVMS license allows you to install and run POSIX for OpenVMS at no additional charge; all you need is the media and documentation which can be found on the Consolidated Distribution and On-Line Documentation CD-ROMs. Support for the POSIX package on more recent OpenVMS releases is not available, various parts of POSIX such as calls from the API are being integrated more directly into OpenVMS. For more information on POSIX for VMS see question SOFT2
What became confusing is that the OpenVMS name was introduced first for OpenVMS AXP V1.0 causing the widespread misimpression that OpenVMS was for Alpha AXP only, while "regular VMS" was for VAX. In fact, the official name of the VAX operating system was changed as of V5.5, though the name did not start to be actually used in the product until V6.0.
The proper names for OpenVMS on the two platforms are now "OpenVMS
VAX" and "OpenVMS Alpha", the latter having superseded
"OpenVMS AXP".
2.2.1 How do I port from VMS to OpenVMS?
You already did. Wasn't that easy? Please see Section 2.2 for details.
2.3 Which is better, OpenVMS or UNIX?
This question comes up periodically, usually asked by new subscribers amd new posters who are long-time UNIX or Linux users. Sometimes, the question is ignored totally; other times, it leads to a long series of repetitive messages that convince no one and usually carry little if any new information. Please do everyone a favor and avoid re-starting this perpetual, fruitless debate.
That said, OpenVMS and the better implementations of UNIX are all fine
operating systems, each with its strengths and weaknesses. If you're in
a position where you need to choose, select the one that best fits your
own requirements, considering, for example, whether or not the layered
products or specific OS features you want are available, and
considering the expected cost-of-ownership over the lifetime of the
system installation.
2.4 Is HP continuing funding and support for OpenVMS?
Yes.
Active development of new OpenVMS releases is underway, as well as the continuation of support.
Please see the following URLs for details, roadmaps, and related information:
Various distributions are available.
For information on the available part numbers and current products (OpenVMS distribution kits, media, documentation, etc) and associated licensing information, please see the OpenVMS Software Product Description (SPD), available at:
The CD-ROMs listed in Table 2-1 contain just the OpenVMS Alpha operating system. These are bootable, and can be used to run BACKUP from CD-ROM.
| Part | Description |
|---|---|
| QA-MT1AP-H8 | OpenVMS Alpha V6.1-1H2 hardware release CD-ROM |
| QA-MT1AG-H8 | OpenVMS Alpha V6.2-1H3 hardware release CD-ROM |
| QA-MT1AD-H8 | OpenVMS Alpha V7.1-1H1 hardware release CD-ROM |
| QA-MT1AR-H8 | OpenVMS Alpha V7.1-2 maintenance release CD-ROM |
| QA-MT1AT-H8 | OpenVMS Alpha V7.2-1 maintenance release CD-ROM |
| QA-MT1AU-H8 | OpenVMS Alpha V7.2-1H1 hardware release CD-ROM |
The table Table 2-2 contains the consolidated ECO distribution kit subscriptions, and these provide sites with eight updates of the current ECO kits per year:
| Part | Description |
|---|---|
| QT-3CQAA-C8 | OpenVMS Alpha |
| QT-3CRAA-C8 | OpenVMS VAX |
The OpenVMS VAX and OpenVMS Alpha source listings CD-ROM sets listed in Table 2-3 include the source listings of most of OpenVMS, and these CD-ROM sets are invaluable for any folks working directly with OpenVMS internals, as well as folks interested in seeing examples of various programming interfaces.
| Part | Description |
|---|---|
| QB-MT1AB-E8 | OpenVMS Alpha Source Listings CD-ROM |
| QT-MT1AB-Q8 | OpenVMS Alpha Source Listings CD-ROM Updates |
| QB-001AB-E8 | OpenVMS VAX Source Listings CD-ROM |
| QT-001AB-Q8 | OpenVMS VAX Source Listings CD-ROM Updates |
OpenVMS is written in a wide variety of languages.
In no particular order, OpenVMS components are implemented using Bliss, Macro, Ada, PLI, VAX and DEC C, Fortran, UIL, VAX and Alpha SDL, Pascal, MDL, DEC C++, DCL, Message, and Document. And this is certainly not a complete list. However, the rumor is NOT true that an attempt was made to write pieces of OpenVMS in every supported language so that the Run-Time Libraries could not be unbundled. (APL, BASIC, COBOL and RPG are just some of the languages NOT represented!)
There are a large variety of small and not-so-small tools and DCL
command procedures that are used as part of the OpenVMS build, and a
source code control system capable of maintaining over a hundred
thousand source files across multiple parallel development projects,
and overlapping releases.
2.7 Obtaining and Transfering OpenVMS licensees?
The following sections describe hobbyist and educational license programs, as well as information on commercial licenses and transfers.
For information on the available commercial OpenVMS licenses and for
information on license transfers, please see Section 2.7.4. For
information on the licensing implementation, troubleshooting licensing
problems, on the License Unit Requirements Table (LURT), and other
related details, please see Section 5.38.
2.7.1 Questions asked by Hobbyist OpenVMS licensees?
If you are a member of an HP-recognized user group (eg: Encompass, Enterex, DECUS), and are considering acquiring and using a VAX or Alpha system for hobbyist (non-commercial) use, (free) license product authorization keys (PAKs) for OpenVMS VAX, OpenVMS Alpha, and layered products are available.
In addition to the license keys, OpenVMS VAX and Alpha distribution CD-ROM distribution kits are available with OpenVMS, DECwindows Motif, DECnet and TCP/IP networking, compilers, and a variety of layered products. (While the hobbyist CD-ROM distributions are intended for and tailored for OpenVMS Hobbyists, the contents and capabilities of the Hobbyist installation kits included within the OpenVMS Hobbyist distribution do not differ from the standard distribution installation kits. The products are chosen to reflect the most popular products and the space available on the media.)
If you have questions on what else is authorized by the license agreement and on what other distribution media is available to you, well, please read the applicable software license agreement(s).
For further information, please link to:
On the OpenVMS Hobbyist license registration form at the above website (as of June 2003), you are offered the choice of the "OpenVMS VAX" license(s), the "OpenVMS Alpha" license(s), and the "Layered Products" licenses. You will want the operating system license for your particular OpenVMS platform and you will want the "Layered Products" licenses. You will want to select and to acquire two sets of license PAKs.
For vendors wishing to license products specifically for hobbyist use (and to not issue hobbyist PAKs), the program provides hobbyists with the license PAK OPENVMS-HOBBYIST.
If you plan to use a hardware emulator (eg: VAX emulator) on a
Microsoft Windows platform, make sure you have an OpenVMS distribution
kit that can be installed and/or booted with the particular emulator
package you plan to use. For additional information on emulators,
please see Section 13.13 and particularly please see the
emulator-related documentation.
2.7.2 OpenVMS Educational and CSLG licenses?
For information on OpenVMS licenses for educational customers, please see the HP Campus Software License Grant (CSLG) license program and the OpenVMS Educational license program:
Commercial software developers can join the HP DSPP program, and can (potentially) receive discounts on various software product licenses and software distributions, as well as on hardware purchases.
The DSPP program is the descendent of the DIGITAL ISVN and DIGITAL ASAP programs and the Compaq CSA program, and the analogous developer and partner programs at HP.
Please see Section 2.14 for additional details on the DSPP program.
For information on the OpenbVMS Hobbyist and OpenVMS Educational
license programs, please see Section 2.7.1.
2.7.4 How do I obtain or transfer an OpenVMS license?
To transfer a commercial OpenVMS license from one owner to another, or
to purchase a commercial license, you can contact HP at 1-800-OK-COMPAQ
(in North America), or your local or regional sales office or reseller.
2.8 Does OpenVMS support the Euro currency symbol?
OpenVMS can generate the %xA4 character code used for the Euro, and the DECwindows DECterm can display the glyph. Please check with the vendor of your terminal or terminal emulator for additional details.
For additional information on the support of the European Monetary Union Euro currency glyph on OpenVMS, please see:
OpenVMS has been ported to and is operational on three architectures: VAX, Alpha, and IA-64. VAX is the oldest, and limited to 32-bit virtual and up to 34-bit physical addressing. Alpha and IA-64 architectures are both 64-bit architectures, with 64-bit virtual addressing available.
The most common commodity platform available in the industry is clearly the Intel IA-32 series, with 32-bit addressing. Technically, OpenVMS and specifically the OpenVMS VAX 32-bit environment is already available on IA-32 systems. For information on how this is possible, please see one of the available VAX emulator products referenced over in Section 13.13.
As for (the lack of) a native port for IA-32, OpenVMS Engineering presently and continues to believe that there would be insufficient market (read: profit, customer interest) to justify the cost involved in a native port of OpenVMS to systems using the Intel IA-32 architecture. In addition to the direct costs involved in any port and in addition to the substantial effort involved in moving backwards from a 64-bit environment on Alpha and on IA-64 to a 32-bit platform (such as IA-32), and the exceedingly non-trivial device qualification costs and the costs in moving backwards into older PCI and I/O environments (IA-32 systems more than a few years old have equivalently aged I/O support and buses), each organization and each person maintaining a product or a package for OpenVMS will have to justify a port to "OpenVMS Pentium" or "OpenVMS Athalon", akin to the decisions and effort involved in porting a product from OpenVMS VAX to OpenVMS Alpha, or to OpenVMS I64.
Platform ports of many of the various products can be easy. Other products can depend on platform-specific features, and the associated ports can be more involved. Ports of operating systems are very large and involved projects. The prerequisite product requirements for a port are also non-trivial, as well---compilers in particular are obviously required, and the suite of compilers provided must maintain a very high degree of source-level compatibility across the platforms. In the case of the HP Integrity port, OpenVMS I64 V8.0 used cross-compilers and cross-tools operating on OpenVMS Alpha systems, while V8.1 is expected to have native compilers available. The OpenVMS I64 port was centrally built using the existing OpenVMS Alpha environment and around the work and the knowledge from the OpenVMS Alpha port, and OpenVMS Engineering fully expects that customers and ISVs will use and will continue to use OpenVMS Alpha systems to assist with their own ports to OpenVMS I64.
OpenVMS Engineering is well aware of the AMD Opteron AMD64 (64-bit) platform, and of terms such as Hammer and Sledgehammer. (At least one of the VAX emulators can reportedly utilize the Opteron instruction set, please contact the VAX emulator vendor(s) or maintainer(s) for assistance and details on their products.) OpenVMS Engineering has also heard many of the various "Yamhill" rumors as well. There are no plans to provide a native port of HP OpenVMS for any systems based on AMD Opteron.
As part of the work leading to the Itanium port, senior engineers had extensively evaluated the products and the architectures available across the high-end 64-bit computing space, and chosen to target Itanium for 64-bit environments---this while under the Compaq organization. This included looking at IA-32. HP (a co-developer of Itanium with Intel) had seperately chosen to target Intel Itanium for its high-end computer products. Compaq then announced plans for the future of Alpha through EV79 products and platforms, and HP (entirely seperately) announced plans for PA-RISC products and platforms. The Itanium target has been maintained consistently since the Itanium port was announced by Compaq, and has also been consistently maintained by HP and by the combined company. For those folks prefering to follow the schedules and the product deliveries, OpenVMS Engineering had OpenVMS I64 V8.0 ready (internally) ahead of schedule---and with more features available within the release than had been originally planned for the release. (For information on and for schedules of future OpenVMS releases, please see the roadmap that is available at the OpenVMS website.)
OpenVMS I64 itself does not require and does not plan to utilize the Itanium IA-32 32-bit environment for the operation of OpenVMS itself. OpenVMS I64 V8.0 runs natively on the Itanium processor family, with no use of IA-32 instructions; this starting with the initial release of OpenVMS I64 V8.0, and the fully-native operations of OpenVMS are expected to continue through future releases. While OpenVMS can and does support 32-bit applications and addressing on Itanium, this is done with sign-extension addressing techniques entirely analogous to what was done with 32-bit applications operating in the 64-bit Alpha environment.
But yes, a native IA-32 port or a native AMD Opteron port of OpenVMS would certainly be nice to have---this, of course, following the traditional Linux preference for having a Linux port available for most (all?) computer architectures known, and even for certain high-end refrigerators and toasters and similar appliances and appliance-like devices. (The downside of this all-encompassing approach: this requires near-infinite engineering and support costs from the various vendors involved, and the qualification efforts and costs of most everything---everywhere. Or reduced or eliminated testing and support efforts. Or an unfortunate combination of these two. These costs are huge, and the benefits derived from the work are comparatively small when given the comparable costs of more targeted (and thus supported and supportable) hardware configurations--- the platform targets are and must be carefully selected and considered by each vendor. Put another way, there are no plans to provide a native port of HP OpenVMS for systems based on Intel IA-32 processors, nor for systems based on AMD Opteron processors. (There are even still a few computer systems and platforms that lack Linux ports, after all.)
All this material having been written, have you looked at the system configurations and pricing of the available HP Integrity Intel Itanium systems? Low-end computer hardware is clearly a commodity product, and the systems are priced, serviced, upgraded, and replaced accordingly. Intel Itanium is a commodity microprocessor presently used in platforms available from various hardware vendors, including (obviously) from HP. Further, Itanium is a microprocessor available from and supported by Intel, a semiconductor vendor known for exceedingly high-volume microprocessor fabrication process and production capabilities.
For information on supported platforms and processors, please see the OpenVMS Software Product Description (SPD) at:
Please see Section 14.4.5 for Intel Itanium terminology.
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