Is the set of available RPC calls dependant on the connected node?

When I am connected to rpcalpha.tzbeta.net through tezos-client -l -A rpcalpha.tzbeta.net -S -P 443 config update I can succesfully call tezos-client activate account alice with <path_to_downloaded_json>.

But when I connect to my own node an run the same command, I get:

% tezos-client activate account alice with <path_to_downloaded_json>                                                                                                                     ~ tezos-node
Error:
  Unrecognized command.
  Try using the man command to get more information.

Usage:

My ‘~/.tezos-client/config’ content when connected to my own node is

{
    "base_dir": "/home/troels/.tezos-client",
    "node_addr": "127.0.0.1",
    "node_port": 9999
}