Download Download View Open SIMH on GitHub

Licensing for DEC VMS

Disclaimer

The information on this page is correct to the best of our knowledge, but does not constitute legal advice.

Summary

  • To the best of our knowledge, there is currently no legal way to obtain or renew a license for the VMS operating system or its layered products on OpenSimH in support of OpenSIMH’s mission.
  • The former and popular “hobbyist” program has been discontinued, and all licenses issued under it have expired.
  • Possession of a license “key” (PAK )does not grant the right to use licensed software.
  • A license is required whether or not the software uses technical means to verify compliance.
  • The OpenSIMH steering group is well aware of the frustration this causes, and has attempted to obtain a new license from HP. So far, unsuccessfully.

Historical background

All DEC software, including diagnostics, operating systems, layered products, firmware, and (most) custom software was provided under license.

DEC software licensing was complex and evolved over time. In general, its software licenses are tied to the hardware with which they were sold or on which they were in first installed.

Some software licenses limited the number of users and/or the computing capacity of the machine on which it could be used. Others authorized the use of product features, such as networking or volume shadowing. Still others licensed a group of products, restricted use to particular environments (such as instruction or field testing), and/or other other market requirements.

Transferring a license to another machine required permission from DEC, which was granted (or not) on a case-by-case basis. (OpenSIMH is considered a new machine. Some of the commercial emulator vendors, including some based on OpenSIMH, have the right to transfer licenses from physical machines to their products. OpenSIMH does not.)

Some products used technical means to enable product features and/or to assist customers’ compliance with license terms. Regardless of whether or not technical means were used, the licensee (customer) was (and is) responsible for having a valid license and complying with its terms.

Starting with VAX/VMS version 5, VMS, Ultrix, and Digital Unix included a tool known as the License Management Facility (LMF), specifically intended to help customers to comply with license terms. LMF represented licenses with a document called a Product Authorization Key (PAK), which was distributed in both paper and electronic forms. PAKs are cryptographically signed by the issuer and entered into the LMF database by the customer, serving as a “license key”. Possession of a PAK does not not grant a license to the software. However, both the operating systems and layered products used LMF to determine whether use was authorized.

Prior versions of VAX/VMS do not include LMF, but a license is still required to use a product. Other technical means were used to enable some features.

In the same way that a stolen key does not authorize driving a car, a PAK is NOT a license; it is an assertion that a valid license was legally obtained.

Most licenses issued by DEC do not expire. However, updates were provided under software maintenance agreements, which extended the license to include a right to new versions for the duration of the agreement.

Some DEC-provided software required royalty payments to third parties, complicating licensing. This is one reason that hobbyist licensing can be infeasible for these products.

Hobbyist Licensing

DEC introduced and Compaq/HP continued a popular license program for hobbyist use, which provided licenses and PAKs for VAX/VMS, OpenVMS Alpha and many layered products. Many OpenSIMH users took advantage of this program, which provided licenses that expired annually.

The business case for this program was DEC’s interest in Alpha and IPF customers having a pool of knowledgeable people who could work with the OpenVMS operating system and its layered products. The program enabled existing talent to maintain its skills, and new talent to be developed. Although important for the OpenSIMH community, the incidental uses for historical preservation, education, and sentimental attachements were not program goals.

The hobbyist license program was never offered for Ultrix or Digital Unix.

The hobbyist license program was discontinued when HP decided that the business case was no longer valid.

At this point, all licenses issued under this program have expired and are no longer valid.

Current status

There is currently no legal means of obtaining a valid license for VAX/VMS, OpenVMS, or their layered products in support of OpenSIMH’s mission of preserving the knowledge contained in and the ability to experience old/historic software.

Although the subjects of unofficial PAK generators and other methods of defeating license-related technical means arise periodically, it is important to note that those methods facilitate the misappropriation of intellectual property. We do not endorse those methods. In the event that enforcement action is taken by a current rights holder(s), the use of those methods could be interpreted to show intent.

The OpenSIMH steering group is well aware of the frustration this causes, and has attempted to obtain a new license from HP. So far, unsuccessfully.