>>> On Sat, Nov 17, 2007 at 4:46 PM, in message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Michael Stack <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: -snkp- > It wasn't the zNextGen Project itself to which I referred. The > session I had in mind was run by the Academic Initiative IBMers, and > NIU faculty were, in fact, turned away by the session chair (an > IBMer). His quite reasonable explanation was that the session > already had four panelists and there was no time for another to > participate. But he has long known of NIU's program, and still no > NIU faculty were invited. That was my point.
Ok, that makes much more sense to me. >>Your note only talked about an MP3K at NIU. Does NIU currently have >>a z/Architecture machine? > > No, and it likely never will, as the last NIU mainframe will probably > be gone in a couple of years. In fact, my new job is my first > opportunity to write code for z/Architecture, and especially z/OS. Ok, so ISU's statement isn't total balderdash, since they are the only Illinois public university with a z/Architecture machine, just very, very galling. :( -snip- > I certainly agree wholeheartedly with your last statement. Whether > z/OS is a short step away from Linux and z/VM can be debated, but the > real issue for most of the companies which hire NIU CS graduates is > their need for skilled employees who understand what I call > 'large-scale enterprise computing' . That's the kind of graduate the > NIU CS program has long been producing, and NIU CS believes that z/OS > and its predecessors are the environment in which that is best learned. UMR saw a fair number of companies hiring graduates for similar reasons. I would like to think, though, that someone getting exposed to z/OS, z/VM, and Linux, all on the mainframe, as well as Linux on Intel/AMD, Solaris, etc., and the business reasons why one would use each one, would be much better acculturated to the idea of "best tool for the job." One of the biggest faults I see with most IT people is "my favorite platform is the best choice for _any_ use." If we could eliminate that attitude, the whole industry would be much better served. Mark Post ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
