6 Apr
2013
6 Apr
'13
10:29 p.m.
A bit of a (stereo-)typical response of an IBM
advocate/apologist.
Please. I am the IBM apologist around here.
Don't kill the messenger. All that I'm doing
is stating what I've
been observing. It's a plain fact that hardly anyone knows what
an IBM mainframe is. I'm sure there are even people --- like those
born in the 1990s and beyond --- who don't even know what IBM is.
What you say is true - most people, even professionals, do not know
what a mainframe was or is. The problem is that you are not observing
things as they are. Much of this is due to the outlook that Unix (and
Windows) people have - you assume the mainframe is dead, so you look
no further, and continue assuming the mainframe is dead. The mainframe
will not find you, and will not inform you.
It doesn't help for IBM that they're
completely invisible to most
people nowadays.
In the mainframe market, being invisible has advantages.
I'd love to try "z" sometime (or even
something older, like an
S/390), but IBM isn't exactly making that very easy for people
like myself, now are they?
No, and some mainframe people think this is a problem. I think it
would be great to have some sort of program. However, IBM is quite
protective of its IP.
VMS has the excellent "Hobbyist Program",
maybe IBM should
perhaps consider something similar? Although, even that has
not saved VMS and it's in a terrible shape. But, more people
have heard of it and had a chance to use it than "z", that's
for damn sure.
That would be due to the educational system. Before Unix ruled
universities, VMS did (and other DECthings).
--
Will