Re: What should I say to a *nix community?

Lukas Beeler wrote:

In IT, it is important to take advantage of new technology. In every
facet.

While I agree with this idea in general ... it's also important to keep in mind that systems need to advance organically ... not just for the sake of change. If a system written 20 years ago still works and does exactly what is needed, it should *NOT* change.

On the other hand, if a system is no longer doing the job required ... it should certainly be updated using the most current mechanisms, techniques, and methods available.

There are other problems - some new improvement in a program, and then
it crashed, leaving half-written records empty in the database. Why?
Because they didn't modernize their application to use transactions
and constraints. Now, IBM added all those features. Programmers can
use them. But many don't. Why? Because it worked so far.

The key to the IBM i system is that, if it worked so far, it will continue to work. Using the new features of the system won't fix problems that don't exist. In fact, by reworking applications that work fine, you are introducing a significant level of risk that the new implementation won't work as well as the original.

In the end, IT is defined by the people that drive it. There are
thousands of piss-poor ERP applications out there - all of them
running on Windows. But there are also many piss-poor ERP applications
on the i. Why? Because the people behind them suck.

'course taking a piss-poor ERP application written on V3R2, updating it to use V6R1 methods, isn't going to make it any less piss-poor. It'll just be a more modernly written piss-poor application.

If i had a choice, i would prefer heaving a head on crash with a
current car - not a with a 20 year old car - even if it is in pristine
condition and works just as well. Why? Because technology advanced in
those 20 years.

Hmmm ... let's see, the bumper on the Chevy Impala my dad had in 1975 was made out of metal ... the bumper on my Ford Escape Hybrid is made out of plastic. Which car do you think will fare better in a head on crash? The car would fare better and so would the occupants.

david
(writing from 53 deg 20 min North by 5 deg 25 min West, figure it out)