[Simh] VMS Network device support

[Timothe Litt]

> The DVNETRTG PAK is included in the Hobbyist license set I got from HP.
I'm glad that DVNETRTG is now in the Hobbyist license.

> I suspect that V4.x didn't require PAKs

IIRC, LMF (PAK licensing) was introduced in VMS V5.  Prior to LMF, it 
was the honor system; there was nothing to prevent accidentally 
installing a kit on another system. (And you needed a license to get 
support, and action taken if you were caught.)  Early VAXes were 
expensive enough that people were careful; the honor system worked.  I'm 
not sure if LMF came about because DEC had problems as VMS became more 
accessible, or because it feared them.

Before LMF, I think DECnet for the local node was standard in VMS; 
buying the ability to connect to another machine required a license and 
a kit that installed a patch to enable it.  (This scheme allowed decnet 
syntax in filenames even for non-networked machines, which was 
remarkably useful.)

(LMF was designed/explained not as a license enforcement tool, but as a 
tool to help administrators manage licenses.  Sorta like the $0.35 locks 
used on cars until recently - remind honest people to stay honest, and 
provide evidence of intent when thievery was detected.  LMF was probably 
a $1.50 lock by that standard.)
> Perhaps the routing license also enables the WAN devices?
No.  Where the WAN device kit is required, it needed its own PAK. They 
may have been split off from VMS in the V5.x timeframe.  I know that 
systems running V5.4 require this kit and PAK for sync line support on 
the 3900; I have the physical kit (and PAK) for my system.


This communication may not represent my employer's views,
if any, on the matters discussed.

On 07-Jun-13 20:28, Mark Pizzolato - Info Comm wrote:
> On Friday, June 07, 2013 at 5:11 PM, Timothe Litt wrote:
>> I found an official DEC letter from 1992.
>>
>> First, VAX Wide Area Networking is a separate product.  The kit name is SYNC
>> (e.g. SYNC012 on the CDs).
>> It has a separate PAK - one of which is WAN-DEVICE-DRIVERS.  The DUP for
>> HDLC and Bisync requires it, but apparently not for DDCMP.  But the
>> DMC/DMR and other sync lines do.
>>
>> Second, many of our plans assume a decnet router.  VMS VAX requires the
>> DVNETRTG PAK to enable this.
> The DVNETRTG PAK is included in the Hobbyist license set I got from HP.
>
> There is no PAK for WAN-DEVICE-DRIVERS though.
>
> I believe that several folks are already running Rob Jarratt's DMC on VMS without any PAKs.  I don't know what version of VMS they are running though.  I suspect that V4.x didn't require PAKs for this stuff....
>
> - Mark
>


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