While I have been in this game long enough to remember the weight lifting of multiple boxes of manuals, I have tended to be a generalist in a mainframe tech support role, playing SysProg - DASD/Tape mgmt - Network mgmt - Batch scheduling- Security roles. I do not have the depth that many/most of you do. So, I find I am often in the newer SysProg group.
To the point, I often need to go look up things that may be basics. So, what is the best way to get an answer. Yell over the top of the cubicle? Dust off the paper manual? Google? And at the risk of heresy, is using AI all that bad? When I want command syntax options, I have found AI to be faster than finding the same thing in the IBM manual. (It’s not always right; that is indeed a real problem.). So, my real question is, why doesn’t IBM have an AI assistant for SysProgs. (maybe only Jr SysProgs want it, but there clearly is a void.) IBM has access to all the software, manuals, gurus, and real world experience. IBM is and wants to be a leader in AI. IBM needs newer SysProgs to be successful over the next decades as many of us retire. I’m not suggesting z/OSMF on steroids, I’m looking for a reliable way to find published knowledge; something faster than reading many pages, but more reliable than the junk I too often get from general AI tools. Sent from Proton Mail for iOS. -------- Original Message -------- On Thursday, 10/16/25 at 13:29 Seymour J Metz <[email protected]> wrote: I guess that they're not interested in the weight lifting market. -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי נֵ֣צַח יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לֹ֥א יְשַׁקֵּ֖ר ________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> on behalf of Tony Harminc <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2025 1:19 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Newer SYSPROGs (was Re: Political topics) External Message: Use Caution On Thu, 16 Oct 2025 at 11:34, Seymour J Metz <[email protected]> wrote: > [...] > I find that with decent software, online reading is easier than dead > trees. However, if I ever get into weight lifting I'll order a paper copy > of PoOps. > As far as I know IBM doesn't produce printed versions of any manuals these days. You could print the PDF yourself, of course. Tony H. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
