See interspersed below.
From: Jay Maynard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> On Sun, Dec 01, 2002 at 08:29:29AM -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> IBM has never demonstrated any commitment of any kind to develop a >> reasonable entry level approach to the mainframe that would capture the >> interest of many people. >The gotcha is that IBM hasn't seen fit to allow the same low-cost access >to its mainframe software. (No, Peter and Phil, $20K is not low-cost.) Jay, I've not heard that anyone is telling IBM that they want to make a contract commitment to produce software for the platform but that the two currently available choices of free community access or a $13K entry point (not 20K) for their own system with software loan amounts to an impediment that forecloses their effort. I am aware of one-man shops taking IBM up on the offering, so Mr. Szumovski's post to the contrary is factually incorrect. >> Until IBM realizes that it needs an entry level box with reasonable >> software prices that most people understand, growth will be at a snail's >> pace in the mainframe space for the foreseeable future. The computer >> science mafia at the universities .... will be completely clueless about >> the mainframe world. > Yup. This is why I've been arguing for a hobbyst/personal-use license for > the past 2 years. If years enlisted in that effort are the way to keep score, put me down for 5 years plus. If you want to score by engendering action, then consider the cost of a developer box (that IBM would license to) prior to the availability of a Flex-ES laptop. IBM has in the past contributed frames to Universities for educational purposes, so I suspect its not something they are unfamiliar with. PDW
