Re: Green-screen versus browser -- MIDRANGE-L

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your comments.  

Well, let's face it: IE has been a major target of the virus and
spyware writers.

I'll restate my interest in browser-based applications primarily
because I can do so much more with them.  And I don't give a hoot
about cross-platform capabilities; my applications handle high volumes
(25,000 invoices entered, priced, and delivered every day, and then
all those 25,000 transactions go through another operations process of
equal complexity) and I need a robust batch environment to support
that process and lots of reporting.

I am considering refactoring tools, 4GL's, and .net solutions.  I'll
spend all I have to to get the right one, which will utilize a single
black box sitting in a locked, lights-out room.

-reeve

On 4/24/05, Steve Richter <stephenrichter@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On 4/24/05, Reeve <rfritchman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > I'm writing a management paper for a customer (in support of the
> > iSeries but trashing the WebSphere "solution" and the lack of native
> > browser support) and working on a concise description of the
> > green-screen vs. browser question.  The context is to explain why the
> > iSeries, in spite of all its greatness (performance, low TCO,
> > reliability), isn't known to and/or accepted by a large portion of the
> > IT community.  One factor is IBM's previous marketing failures (no
> > other word for it, sorry; well, maybe "absence"); another reason is
> > the preponderance of the green-screen UI, my current topic.
> >
> > Here's what I have so far:
> >
> > "The problem with green-screen is that the programmer is limited to a
> > fixed font size, a limited color palette, essentially no support for
> > graphics, only 132 columns (across), only 27 lines (down), and the
> > requirement to use a non-standard, usually non-free terminal emulation
> > program (Client Access, etc.), which means you can't talk directly to
> > many new communications devices like PDA's.
> 
> telnet is just as standard as the browser.  and why would management
> care about the small cost a of Client Access equipped device when they
> are paying 10s of thousands of $$ for the employee using the device?
> The advantage the browser has over green screen is that it is just a
> lot better ... in all categories.
> 
> > "There is nothing innately good about browsers; except for Firefox,
> > they're bloated with generally useless features, each has its own
> > unique characteristics (meaning it doesn't work exactly the same as
> > other browsers), and many continue to be a gateway ("Gates way"?) for
> > viruses and spyware.
> 
> Reeve, if you write this to management, they are likely to see you as
> an as400 luddite more concerned with grinding his "MS sucks" axe
> instead of solving business problems. IMO, of course :)
> 
> >
> > "The benefit of browsers is that the programmer has much greater
> > control over what the user sees and how the screen works...but it
> > takes a lot more programming effort to deliver a browser-based
> > application.  The basic tradeoff is balancing time-to-deliver (low for
> > green-screen, high for browser), function (low for green screen, high
> > for browser), and performance (relatively high for green-screen,
> > relatively low for browser).
> 
> Only on the as400 is this true.  In windows a competent programmer can
> deliver asp.net, browser based functionality in a fraction of the time
> it takes to write a desktop application.
> 
> > Am I missing any points meaningful to senior management?
> 
> tell them, if they want to leverage the value of their as400
> applications and database, that they should move as quickly as
> possible to a setting where asp.net and windows forms are the front
> end to the business objects and whatever on a state of the art iSeries
> server.
> 
> good luck!
> 
> -Steve
> 
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Reeve
> >
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