My company writes software that runs identically, for the most part, in MVS, DOS/VSE, OS390 and Z/OS. GNU has nothing to with it, writing for portability does. Portable does not mean Windows of Sun, in this sense anyway. I have software that was written in 1982 still running in IBM shops today. That is value.
Please define free. Thanks, Steve Guthrie -----Original Message----- From: Linux on 390 Port [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Rod Clayton Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 9:18 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: IBM has no realistic entry-level offering in the mainframe space Per, Nice to meet you. The big complaint with VSE is that there are no new applications written for it. A cheap hobbyist licenses might result in some great new applications. They might even be free (GNU). Open source is where VSE started out anyway. I work with VSE and they need to do something for it to remain healthy. No one would care about VM either if it were not for Linux, so VM owes it's health to GNU as well. The price if the license is entirely artificial. The idea of group pricing was that people on smaller processors don't get the same commercial value as people on large processors. What is the commercial value of VSE or VM on a hobbyist's computer? Certainly not $13000. Oracle gives it's product away for free for non-commercial use. Rod >On Mon, 2 Dec 2002 13:23:42 -0500, Rod Clayton wrote: > >>I am also a radio-amateur. The most expensive thing I have ever purchased >>was a new HF/VHF/UHF radio for $1400. For antennas I use trees for supports etc. >>Amateur radio is like boating. You can spend as much as you like, but I would >>not be an amateur radio operator either if I had to spend $13,000. I don't see >>how anyone could write GNU software for VSE or VM at that price. > >But, (I sound like I'm repeating myself) - then don't write for VM or VSE - >those are the radio-amateur-world equivalents of EME, OSCARs and microwave experiments. >Write software for Linux for instance, and it's virtually free. > >Re. boating - um, around here boating could be fairly expensive too. Perhaps >unless we're talking a rowboat and two oars ? I often go sailing with friends >in the Aegean - not my boat, I just rent my space. But it is pretty damn >expensive if you want to captain a yacht. In time and money. > >btw, glad to meet another one - I'm OZ1HZV. > >/Per > >regards, >Per Jessen, Zurich >http://www.enidan.com - home of the J1 serial console. > >Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped. -- Rod Clayton KA3BHY Systems Programmer Howard County Public Schools [EMAIL PROTECTED]
