> -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mark Post > Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 9:29 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: IBM halves mainframe Linux engine prices > > >>> On 8/18/2009 at 9:55 AM, Howard Brazee > <[email protected]> wrote: > -snip- > > So what are the minimum requirements that a product must > have to be an > > "operating system"? > > I can't speak for anyone else, but for me there needs to be: > - Some way to interact with the system (operator's > console/commands, in Linux this would be a shell) > - Some way to compile/assemble/link programs
ACP on the S/370 did not have any compilers. The programs were developed on MVT and/or MVS, as I recall from working at Braniff Airways. > - Some way to edit a text file (IEBUPDATE, PDF, etc.) ACP didn't have any editors either. > - Some sort of printer driver (HASP, JESx, CUPS) IIRC, an ACP transaction could drive a printer (somehow - I'm not ACP literate, really). > > And probably other things, but you get the idea. Those > things that make computers actually useful. > > > Mark Post So, most "embedded operating systems" are not really an OS, by your requirements. -- John McKown Systems Engineer IV IT Administrative Services Group HealthMarkets(r) 9151 Boulevard 26 * N. Richland Hills * TX 76010 (817) 255-3225 phone * (817)-961-6183 cell [email protected] * www.HealthMarkets.com Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message may contain confidential or proprietary information. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. HealthMarkets(r) is the brand name for products underwritten and issued by the insurance subsidiaries of HealthMarkets, Inc. -The Chesapeake Life Insurance Company(r), Mid-West National Life Insurance Company of TennesseeSM and The MEGA Life and Health Insurance Company.SM ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
