I asked this question to an IBM'er who does z/OS release level stress testing this past weekend in at a family party in Orange County NY. He works in the Poughkeepsie Labs and he admitted customer adoption of Unix systems services is slow, although he said they use it internally! Seems your point about Mainframe security not to mention the reduction of server sprawl are valid points that would only help prolong and diversify the use of our beloved platform. I know of at least one account Nationwide Insurance that has told me they have made successful use of this option.
But back to my IBM acquaintance he seemed more concerned with IBM jobs going to India and picking up the workload of a recently laid off friend that he must now see around town. Michael Sullivan On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 8:41 AM, Steve Comstock <[email protected]> wrote: > When I grew up in the mainframe world, UNIX was > considered to be the enemy. But I was working for > IBM, and UNIX products were competitors, so that's > kind of an expected perspective. > > Today, z/OS provides a rich set of UNIX services, > including HFS/zFS files, a shell, a UNIX kernel, > and more, to supplement / complement the classic > MVS facilities. > > People who grew up with UNIX seem to despise or > denigrate z/OS UNIX as missing a lot of features or > behaviors that they are used to. But those of us who > grew up in the OS/360-and-successors world don't know > what we're missing, so it all seems to be pretty > handy as is. Of course, there's always something new > in the next release. > > There has been a perception that UNIX is less secure > than z/OS. But I think that is an old perception. > And when you utilize z/OS UNIX, your primary security > comes from z/OS security services (RACF, Top Secret, > ACF2, and so on), so that applications using z/OS > UNIX should be as secure as any other z/OS applications. > > Several people on the list talk about their manager's > dislike, distrust, disdain for z/OS UNIX (for example, > John McKown recently wrote, speaking of people at his > installation that would be left if he were to lose his > job: "They seem to regard UNIX on z/OS as an abomination.") > > I'd like to understand this visceral reaction, with an > eye to seeing what can be done to moderate it down to at > least a level of skepticism ("OK, what can this do for > me?"). > > > Of course, I have an agenda in doing this: I've written > a number of courses on using z/OS UNIX, and I'd like to > see some interest in companies taking this training. > > I'm just finishing up a course on writing COBOL CGIs, > and it seems to me that if IT management truly wants to > keep costs down, they would look at using z/OS for > web hosting. > > This can be done very inexpensively: > > * IBM provides two free HTTP servers, one > comes automatically with z/OS, the other > is free but must be ordered separately > > * Most installations already have a COBOL > compiler for writing CGI code, so there's > no additional cost for software and you > have staff that already knows the language > > or you can write CGIs in Assembler (a > less attractive option in most shops) > > * Your installation already has VSAM and > probably some database product such as DB2, > so there's no need for any additional > software to serve up data > > * Although you don't need Java to do this, > if you want to use Java facilities, IBM > provides it at no charge > > You don't need WebSphere; you don't need Java. > Just the free facilities available with your > z/OS system and your current programming staff. > But you do need to use at least some parts of > z/OS UNIX. > > So what's the hangup about z/OS UNIX? > > > > > Kind regards, > > -Steve Comstock > The Trainer's Friend, Inc. > > 303-393-8716 > http://www.trainersfriend.com > > z/OS Application development made easier > * Our classes include > + How things work > + Programming examples with realistic applications > + Starter / skeleton code > + Complete working programs > + Useful utilities and subroutines > + Tips and techniques > > ==> Check out the Trainer's Friend Store to purchase z/OS <== > ==> application developer toolkits. Sample code in four <== > ==> programming languages, JCL to Assemble or compile, <== > ==> bind and test. <== > ==> http://www.trainersfriend.com/TTFStore/index.html <== > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > 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 > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
