PASE

>Will IBM keep supporting and enhancing PASE?

>Or is it 'fully installed'?  Meaning how could they possible enhance PASE
>without enhancing unix as a whole.  Thus there is nothing left to enhance?

PASE will always play "catch-up" as the current version of AIX is not the
basis of PASE.  PASE uses the previous version of the UNIX AIX Kernel
because it's likely to be more stable.  So, V5R1 uses the AIX 4.3.3 kernel,
not the AIX 5L kernel.  I don't know which kernel (4.3.3 or 5L) is in V5R2,
as I don't know what the reliability/stability of AIX 5L is.  Anyone?

V4R4 PASE must have apps generated through VAC++ 4 AND AIX 4.2.
V5R1 and V4R5 PASE must have apps generated through VAC++ 5 and AIX 4.3.3
or later if you're developing apps for V5R1 or V4R5.  I never got the
chance to try any binaries created under AIX 5L, so I don't know how well
they ported.

>Or, will IBM be pushing more and more people to Linux that their answer
>will be just to get another server (or lpar) to handle this stuff?

PASE is PASE, Linux is Linux.  The main deal with PASE is that if you have
an AIX app you want to migrate to the AS/400 and you don't want to buy
another system, go Linux and all that, you can buy the key for PASE, enable
the product, install the binary, and go man go.  But that does bring up
another issue

>Sample.  IBM did just come up with a new version of TSM in pase. That
>speaks positively of PASE.   However support on that over the weekend gets

>you the 'third string' person.  Would support be any better on a Linux or
>unix version instead of getting keyholed to that one person who passed by
>an iSeries on their way to the coffee counter?

Well, it's really a dead heat isn't it?  I mean, you need an AS/400 person
who's going to learn how to support PASE, which means you need a person
who's going to learn AIX (which is what happened to me), or you need a
Linux person-- either through training or hiring. Either way, you're likely
to find someone who's new to the OS or new to supporting your app.

The other issue is this:  validation.  Just because an application is
written for AIX doesn't mean it will automagically run in PASE.  There are
noticible holes in PASE, that simply don't deal with AIX functionality
because PASE runs under OS/400.  I don't remember the specifics any longer,
but if anyone wants to know, you can find the differences at the
Application Factory site at IBM PartnerWorld.  If you're porting an app,
there may be system calls your app uses that PASE may not support, and
you'll have to base your port on the amount of re-work that you may have to
do to fill in the holes.

Third-party product validation is another matter entirely.  When I did my
port into PASE, I was working for a software company who wanted a
commercial version of their server product in the AS/400 marketplace.  In
addition to our product, I had to deal with Merant's Sequel Link Server for
AIX.  I was forutnate in that SLS did run properly with a minimum amount of
tweaking (there were configuration issues with the installation script).
But Merant wouldn't assure us that SLS would continue to run in PASE.

This led me and a few others to try to suggest to IBM that perhaps a pilot
program called "100% Pure PASE".  The idea being that IBM Development
Partners would get assistance from IBM in bringing their AIX ports to PASE.
That way, people who were trying to use PASE could at least be assured that
the components they were using had been vetted in PASE and were reasonably
stable.

Has anyone tried using the AIX JVM in PASE?  It would be possible to do
development in the PASE using Java...

-Doc

-----------------------------------------
Ed Doxtator, Analyst
Baxter International Healthcare
1435 Lake Cook Road, LC II-3
Deerfield, IL  60015
Voice: 847-940-5680