RE: "RPG isn't cool" (was: Re: IBM Secret)

*I* still have my "Born to be /free" t-shirt!

I'm one of the original /free-thinkers!

Peace,

-- Don 

-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Pence [mailto:rp@rogerpence.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 1999 1:16 AM
To: MIDRANGE-L
Subject: Re: "RPG isn't cool" (was: Re: IBM Secret)


>Wasn't RPG Free a Paul Conte creation?

There were several people who claimed to have created a free-format RPG
syntax at one time or another, but it was Paul Conte's RPG/free creation
that got the most attention and was certainly used to write the most code.
See the April 1990 issue of NEWS/400 for its introduction. Nearly the same
syntax, with a handful of interesting improvements, is available today in
ASNA's Visual RPG. With even a brief exposure to a rational RPG syntax, even
the most ardent naysayers go the way of free quickly.

I gotta travel so I'll miss the fun, but you guys need to hammer on Hans to
tell you about the completely free-format x-spec IBM has on the table. I saw
an IBMer debut the x-spec publically last week at the 400 Group's V4R4
conference. Although it's ten years too late, it's an interesting RPG
enhancement to ponder. It's also curious that if IBM truly thinks we're
gonna be hamburger flippers if we don't learn Java, how the old horse could
possibly be worth the work and budget such an enhancement would surely cost.

Best bet: IBM's x-spec will never see the light of day. The spec is
currently being evaluated by Toronto, but if the Atlanta crowd was any
measure, the spec is DOA. After showing the spec, the IBMer asked how many
wanted it, and a smattering of hands (less than 15 out of 200), went up.
When he asked how many didn't want it, only two or three went up. When he
asked how many didn't care, many hands went up. Let's face it: old fashioned
RPG isn't cool and and most RPG programmers don't care!

rp

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