The Bottom Line

OpenVMS systems and Linux systems have much in common with UNIX and Windows servers, with some distinct advantages for each. Given our heterogeneous computing environments of today and looking toward the future, both OpenVMS and Linux will find a use in our data centers and professional information services (IS) deployments for many years to come—OpenVMS for its high availability and scalability and Linux for its low per-unit cost structure and its huge Open Source libraries of software.

As we move forward in this millennium, the battle cry should be for the lowest-cost, right tool for every style of computing. Between OpenVMS and Linux operating systems, a very large part of the computing spectrum is being delivered, and in a most cost-effective way. Now let's explore the types of things both Linux and OpenVMS can do together!

The rest of the chapters in this book are a series of how-to processes designed to utilize both your OpenVMS and Linux box in different ways (TCP/IP, NFS, E-mail, X Windows, and more). The procedures are easy and to the point. They should also be a good starting point for you to explore these functions for more advanced use and deployment! You won't need to read this book cover to cover; the chapters should be self-contained and, I hope, a good reference for some of your specific Linux and OpenVMS interoperability issues.

The rest of this book assumes that you have a running OpenVMS and Linux system configured with TCP/IP and a working knowledge of both OSs as a user and operator. You'll also need system privileges on both systems; don't worry, Chapter 2 shows you how to get System and root on your boxes. But don't experiment on your production machines; two small workstations in the same network would be a great test bed as you learn to connect OpenVMS and Linux together.^[1]

^[1]The material in Appendix C is drawn from Chapter 1 of John Robert Wisniewski, Linux and OpenVMS Interoperability: Tricks for Old Dogs, New Dogs, and Hot Dogs with Open Systems, 2003, 1-55558-267-2, Copyright 2003 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.