On Wed, 5 Sep 2007 17:29:45 +0200, Lindy Mayfield <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> ... it would be used for learning/training purposes or for >developing software to make the mainframe even better than it already >is. I'm hoping that IBM is considering this seriously. They could take >Hercules and make it better or write their own emulator. Lindy, you are right on! ...hm, except one thing: It would be pretty hard to build a better Hercules. Besides, for STRICTLY PERSONAL USE, there is ZERO justification (my MVS 3.8j runs at about 3 MIPS on a dated 800 MHz Pentium). Indeed, IBM is first and foremost a marketing company. We must explain our hype and the commercial value stemming from it to MBA's, IBMers who know Microsoft's at least 1'000 times better than IBM's own software: 1) as a kid you learn Microsoft's products, IBM's come after college ! 2) more and better trained z/OS specialists eases the pressure on CIO's to migrate to "much better" non-IBM platforms. Why "much better"? Often for no other reasons than lack of IBM expertise in the ranks and, according to your collegues, "the fact" that the "best" IBM has to offer wasn't even built by IBM (z/Linux). 3) Operating and maintaing zH/OS requires pre-requisite knowledge while at the same time it is a tremendous motivator to learn and practise (and it doesn't replace IBM Education either. It creates a craving for more!). 4) a zH/OS lets one validate concepts, ideas, test "exits" (things IBM provides) and much more, things you can't do at work in a spare LPAR (because there never is a 100% guarantee it won't crash the system or some parts thereof). 5) About 3 years ago I downloaded a Linux distro, installed Apache, MySQL, Perl packages. By now I have written a few websites, CGI applications. IBM has something called WebSphere. I'll never get a WebSphere contract because I have no *WebSphere exprience*. It's been done many times before, FREEWARE for STRICTLY PERSONAL USE. It is proven to sell more licences for commercial use. There is precedence, DB2, Lotus... I openly challenge any IBMer to come here and explain how zH/OS could harm IBM sales. Be realistic, at any time, anyone, anywhere in the world can steal IBM's copyrighted software and use it illegally. I can't see how legalizing zH/OS for STRICTLY PERSONAL USE could encourage more illegal commercial use. I urge all IBMers who have a personal zH/OS (or Flex-ES) to forward this thread, along with their own experience and justification to IBM senior management. Let's use our heads !! Andreas F. Geissbuehler AFG Consultants Inc. http://www.afgc-inc.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
