Based upon the answers I have been receiving, I am not encouraged. On
the surface, this question seems fairly straight-forward.

The designers of Hercules made it capable of running z/OS, at some
point. Perhaps from the beginning. But, no one seems to be able to
definitely say that under certain, specific conditions, z/OS would be
able to legally be run, and under what specific conditions. Up to this
point, it seems to all be conjecture and individual opinion.

So, I guess Hercules may be is in the same category as a "bong" (water
pipe). In most states in the U.S., it is not necessarily a violation to
be in possession of it, just what you put in it and/or how it is used!
I had a good friend from high school that abused the "bong". Never got
caught by the law for doing it in his own home, but is now deceased at
the ripe old age of 41.

Are those that choose to use z/OS under Hercules in a similar
predicament? (Minus being at risk of dying an early death!)

For the record, we are an IBM customer running an IBM licensed copy of
z/OS 1.9 on genuine IBM hardware. To my knowledge, we have not sought
IBM's permission to run z/OS under Hercules and until the licensing
issue is clarified, I guess by IBM, we do not plan to run z/OS under
Hercules, professionally or personally.

An email inquiry to an individual purportedly running z/OS under
Hercules regarding how he went about legally running z/OS under
Hercules, went unanswered.

Best Regards, Scott



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