Re: Opinions Wanted

WebSphere may be IBM's Grand Design but the learning curve is steep,
it requires lots of power, IBM just happens to have a services
business that can help you out, and I have yet to see a clear, concise
statement of WebSphere's current benefits (IBM spends plenty of money
telling us how great everything "will be").  Many of us don't have the
resources,  inclination, or background to struggle with the WebSphere
infrastructure.  Any moderately competent RPG programmer can learn a
little HTML (or find some high school kind to do it) and put together
a decent business application in a couple of days.

IBM is screwing over business partners at an astounding rate by
decreasing the hardware margins and taking major accounts away from
business partners when a big order is on the horizon; perhaps
Websphere is IBM's gift to business partners everywhere.  But I
digress (I'm not a business partner but I know it's not getting any
easier for them).

I suggest the following: formal support for CGIDEV2, additional
functionality for CGIDEV2, getting VisualAge RPG up to V5R3,
application development tools tailored to support the strengths of
i5/OS, a utility to create workable HTML from DDS (use the Webfacing
engine), and a Red Book with lots of practical (meaning "not written
by lab folks") examples designed to illustrate principles, concepts,
and approaches (two examples of useful topics: how to redesign/rewite
a multi-format inquiry screen program to work in the Web enviroment
and how to redesign/rewrite a program to manage a persistent
connection for an update program, this one bring very important).

It's funny...in spite of all this technology, we're back at CCP again!
 Thirty years later: PRUF.

-reeve

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 23:15:21 -0500, Robert G. Owens
<owensr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> here here.....
> As Always,
> Robert G. Owens
> Programmer/Systems Admin.
> Concord Fabrics, Inc
> owensr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
>                     "nec scire fas est Omnia"
>                it is not Gods will, We should know all
>                            -----Horace-------
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Walden H. Leverich" <WaldenL@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "Web Enabling the AS400 / iSeries" <web400@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Friday, January 28, 2005 12:12 PM
> Subject: RE: [WEB400] Opinions Wanted
> 
> 
> > Since you're asking for opinions... <G>
> >
> > IBM has WAY TOO MANY approaches to the web for the iSeries. Let's see,
> > if I've got it right, the IBM party line has been: use CGI, no, use
> > Net.Data, no, use CGIDEV2, no, use WebFacing, no, use HATS, no, use
> > iSeries access for the Web, um, no use a third party tool, um, no let's
> > get PHP or something like that, no, lets use...
> >
> > The massive number of options has done nothing but cause confusion and
> > paralysis as people try to figure out what's the best option, and will
> > there be a better one next week?
> >
> > Every company has limited development dollars, and IBM is no different.
> > 100% of their web development dollars should go into making a _single_
> > approach to the web the best it can be. I think that single approach is
> > JSP, either w/WebSphere or Tomcat (or both.) The party line becomes
> > simple, "if you're going to the web with your iSeries, use JSP" no
> > questions, no confusion, simple. The discussion then becomes focused on
> > how to best develop JSP solutions, and IBM has only one place to spend
> > development dollars (plus they get a boost from the general JSP
> > community)
> >
> > I'm purposely staying with iSeries-native solutions here and not looking
> > at off-iSeries stuff (Microsoft), but let me point out one thing from
> > the MS world. As huge as the MS world is (and it's huge compared to
> > iSeries) there is ONE SINGLE APPROACH to the web, use ASP.NET. No
> > confusion, no qualification, no ambiguity, just a consistent message.
> >
> > -Walden
> >
> > ------------
> > Walden H Leverich III
> > President & CEO
> > Tech Software
> > (516) 627-3800 x11
> > WaldenL@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > http://www.TechSoftInc.com
> >
> > Quiquid latine dictum sit altum viditur.
> > (Whatever is said in Latin seems profound.)
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: web400-bounces+waldenl=techsoftinc.com@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> > [mailto:web400-bounces+waldenl=techsoftinc.com@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
> > Of Jon Paris
> > Sent: Thursday, 27 January, 2005 18:06
> > To: web400
> > Subject: [WEB400] Opinions Wanted
> >
> > IBM's "WebSphere or nothing" approach and suggesting that more people
> > would
> > update more applications if IBM would support CGI (CGIDEV2 and other
> > options) within the tools to give people a lower cost of entry to the
> > web
> > world.
> >
> > As part of the piece I'd like to include some specific, and preferably
> > practical, suggestions as to enhancements that IBM could make.
> >
> > Any suggestions?
> >
> > Jon Paris
> > Partner400
> > www.Partner400.com
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> 
> _______________________________________________
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