6 Sep
2007
6 Sep
'07
9:15 p.m.
Liam Proven wrote:
On 06/09/07, Patrick Finnegan <pat at
computer-refuge.org> wrote:
As it has been since roughly 1975. I'm really confused as to what
point you're trying to make. If the point is that Dell sells a metric
buttload more PC crap than IBM sells mainframes, I don't believe anyone
disagrees. If the point is that zSeries or s/390 systems are obsolete,
that point will never hold water.
A very good analogy would be a comparison of passenger-car sales to
diesel/electric locomotive sales. Trains have been around a hell of a
lot longer than passenger cars, and they still do exactly what they've
always done. And, for every locomotive engine sold today, there are
likely millions of cars sold. Not only does that not prove that trains
are obsolete, but the comparison is absolutely meaningless.
On Thursday 06 September 2007, Liam Proven
wrote:
> Well, we could compare installs, or we could compare users. It's up
> to you. Either way, I'll warrant that its market share now is
> infinitisemal compared to what it once what.
>
Even if you measured the mainframes' /cost/ as an absolute, it would
still be tiny compared to the hundreds of millions of PCs sold. >> Indeed, tho' I don't know a lot about
mainframes, I have a feeling
>> that most Linux/390 is deployed on z/VM - which is to say, in an LPAR
>> under VM - rather than under z/OS, which is to say, MVS. Linux is
>> probably actually displacing MVS - z/OS - rather than helping it.
In fact, the instance of z/OS compared to z/VM is going *up*, not
down. Those "marginally interesting" p5 systems are scaling into the
low-end LPAR market, while a lot of high-end work, especially in
database ops, is scaling into the realm of single-image mainframes.
I've been following both branches of this thread (zOS market share,
and POWER vs 970FX), and I really have to ask:
Do you have any actual experience with, first-hand knowledge of, or
formal training in *any* of IBM's non-x86 server platforms?
Because everyone who has replied to you, including myself, work with
them daily. I'm probably the least knowledgeable, as I have very little
experience with the mainframes and none at all with AS/400 or i5. My
point is that Pat, Sridhar, William, and even I might know what we're
talking about.
Doc