I can understand asking if they know z.OS well enough to write an exit, but I
don't understand the issue with assembler unless they "know" things that aren't
true.
That said, I'd prefer a programmer who was familiar with the most recent
instruction set and most recent HLASM facilities, but they can write exits
without that. Yes, I cringe when I see
L foo,bar
LTR foo,foo
but it works.
--
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
Brian Westerman <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, February 7, 2026 4:53 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Trade Union
External Message: Use Caution
This is just my 2 cents worth so hopefully no one will be outraged by my
comments, but why would anyone be excluded from certification? I know
electricians that have been doing electrical work that I would not trust to
change a light bulb. But the ones that have been certified tend to be a
completely different (and better) class. I have known, and still do, many
"Systems Programmers" that have over 25 years of "experience" that don't have
what I would consider basic systems programming skills. In a gathering of
systems programmers, if you ask how many know assembler well enough to write an
exit, not many hands will go up. If you ask how many have actually installed
z/OS with z/OSMF or Serverpac, you would likely get the same result. You might
ask if it is fair to be excluded just because you don't yet know assembler or
have had the "chance" to install z/OS but if you want to have a certification,
then you have to establish the minimum requirements and guarantee that everyone
who obtains that certification meets them.
If you establish a standard that you could create a certification for, then
allowing those that should easily be able to pass the certification out of even
taking the "test" is silly. It would cheapen the meaning of being "certified".
There should be requirements to maintain the certification as well. Just
because you learned how to do something 27 years ago doesn't mean you can do it
now, nor that you can do it well enough to demand a premium price to be paid to
perform that work.
Brian
On Fri, 6 Feb 2026 14:45:19 -0600, Steve Beaver <[email protected]> wrote:
>How many of the US Consultants would be open to creating at trade union
>
>With the specific proviso that everyone with over 25 years' experience
>
>Would be excluded from getting certified but could go get certifications
>
>
>
>
>
>Steve Beaver
>
>
>
> <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]
>
>
>
>
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