Re: mi access to a dtaara

h
Hello Steve

You wrote:
>.NET provides a class and member function interface to the os. To relate it
>to my data area issue, the os would provide a DataArea class. The class then
>has member functions like Crt, Dlt, Rtv, Chg, Lock, ...  All programs that
>run on a windows .NET pc have access to the class.  Not bad for a company
>that critics say does not innovate.

Oh God! Here we go (trying desperately to restrain himself and not succeeding).

Innovation?  MS simply stole that whole idea from Java which in turn stole it 
from Smalltalk.  If Xerox had a dollar for every idea lifted from PARC 
(windows, mice, OO, 'natural' programming, etc.) ...

It would be nice if OS/400 became fully object-oriented rather than simply 
object based but that's not likely to happen.  

        1/ Much of the code in the OS and compilers has evolved over years and 
is not likely to be rewritten simply to have a common interface.  How many of 
your businesses would let you rewrite chunks of the application in RPG IV 
simply because it will improve your productivity, give you a common code base, 
and set the stage for future development, but doesn't actually add any new 
features or function or improve the short-term bottom line?  Rochester did take 
this approach when rewriting SLIC but I don't see them doing that for the OS.

        2/ As we can see from the VRM510 announcments, Rochester's focus seems 
to be on making the AS/400 as much like Unix as possible.  We have QSHELL and 
PASE to make it easy to port Unix applications and that is exactly what 
Rochester are doing.  They port rather than write native code.  To wit DNS, 
SMTP, and new APIs that populate IFS files rather than user spaces.  Bleech!!!!

I foresee a time when the entire object based part of the system is treated as 
legacy code and the IFS, teraspace, and scripts is where it's at.  The MI will 
still be there along with its unique features but development will be so much 
like Unix it won't be funny.  Watch for the announcement from IBM suggesting 
that the strategic approach for AS/400 customers is to migrate to 
platform-neutral applications and environments and then move to a different 
platform.  You think I joke?  Go to 
        http://www-4.ibm.com/software/os/warp/strategy/
and replace each reference to OS/2 with AS/400 or iSeries and read it again.

Bowing out now because this is more appropriate eleswhere.

Regards,
Simon Coulter.

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