RE: CODE/400

Ok, my two cents worth.

This topic has been pretty funny actually.  It would seem that most of you 
would like to use 
CODE/400 but you all want someone else to pay for it.  That's possibly 
understandable for the 
permanent employees but rather ridiculous for the "consultants".

I liked the analogy of a mechanics tools.  Most mechanics, plumbers, 
carpenters, etc have to 
provide a certain number of their own tools.  It's an expected part of the job. 
 The boss may 
pay for the heavy (or capital) equipment and consumables but the workers 
provide the hammers, 
saws, drills, socket set, wrenches, etc.

Why should we be so different?  It is reasonable to expect a client have ADTS 
installed if 
they are intending to hire programmers, that they should provide you with a 
desk from which to 
work, and that they provide a means of connecting to the AS/400.  However if 
you want to use 
different tools you should provide them.  Permanent employees could reasonably 
expect a PC to 
be provided but consultants should provide their own laptop.  Consultants can 
purchase 
software as a business expense more easily than permanent employees but even 
they could be 
expected to provide some of their tools.  They can probably make it tax 
deductable also.  The 
advantage is you get to use the tools you like.

I can see the arguments now:

        1-  CODE/400 is too expensive
        2 - A laptop is too expensive
        3 - Client's won't let me connect to their LAN
        4 - Client's only have NPTs
        5 - They don't have a lan, it's all twin-ax
        6 - I'm happy with SEU, etc

Refutation of 1:

Given that you can try before you buy you won't pay for it unless you like it.  
CODE/400 costs 
about $900 per seat and you use it for a year so that costs you $75 a month, or 
about $17 a 
week which is less than 1/2 an hour of your chargeable time.  The cost drops 
the longer you 
use it.  Why would you not pay $17 dollars a week to use a better programming 
environment? --  
it may even improve your productivity such that you are perceived as better 
than the next 
programmer and well worth your charge rate, maybe you'd get more work, maybe 
you could charge 
more!  The cost is also a legitimate business expense.

Refutation of 2:

You can buy a reasonable laptop for about $5000 dollars and it's a tax 
deduction.  Expecting 
two years use means it costs about $208 a month.  If the capital outlay is too 
much then lease 
one.  Either mechanism is a legitimate business expense.

Refutation of 3:

Make it a condition of your contract.  You'd be surprised what you can get if 
you demand it.  
If all of you do it the clients will soon accept it (look at the crap they 
accept from 
MickeySoft -- couldn't resist).

Or, if they provide a PC with an emulation session download the code to the PC 
and copy it to 
your laptop (since arg 2 doesn't hold water) and work on your laptop, copy it 
back, send it to 
the AS/400 and compile -- you'll have already verified it on the laptop.

Refutation of 4:

See 5 below or use the green screen.  You aren't going to forget how to use 
PDM, SEU, SDA, 
etc.  This particular client won't benfit from your new tools but others will.

Refutation of 5:

Get a twin-ax card for the laptop. (and an Ethernet card, and a Token-Ring 
card; they're all 
tools of the trade - buy one when you need it for a particular client).

Refutation of 6:

You're not being forced to change.  Stay with SEU.  Just don't suggest that 
there is no point 
in using other tools instead.

Regards,
Simon Coulter.

//----------------------------------------------------------
// FlyByNight Software         AS/400 Technical Specialists
// Phone: +61 3 9419 0175      Mobile: +61 3 0411 091 400
// Fax:   +61 3 9419 0175      E-mail: shc@flybynight.com.au
// 
// Windoze should not be open at Warp speed.
 

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