I hesitate to add this section because, since the HP acquisition, urls are bound to change. These addresses are currently valid, and I would like to hope that Compaq/HP will maintain them in the future.
Software product description (SPD) home page is at www.compaq.com/info/spd.
OpenVMS and layered product patches are found at ftp://ftp1.service.digital.com /public/vms. This site includes both VAX and AXP (Alpha) patches for many versions of OpenVMS. Each patch includes a README and installation instructions.
License units required for all VAXes and Alphas can be found online at www.compaq.com/products/software/info/ in the Reference Material tab. This location contains lots of other information regarding licenses.
I've found the best starting point to reach the user community is www.levitte.org/~ava/. This site seems to point to everything else available, including DEC /Compaq/HP sites.
Hunter Goatley maintains one of the best OpenVMS software collections at www.process.com/openvms/index.html.
The official FAQ site is www.openvms.compaq.com/wizard/openvms_faq.html. This information is actively updated regularly; however, this is not the only FAQ site available. See www.levitte.org/~ava/vms_faq.htmlx for others.
Hewlett-Packard maintains OpenVMS training for system managers online at www.openvms.compaq.com/training.html.
The site www.multimania.com/pmoreau/decw/decw.html is the source of many freeware Motif packages that may interest the system manager.
The prime OpenVMS hackers' homepage is deathrow.vistech.net/. It would be smart to read over that material and ensure that you are protected against any of the possible problems described.