Re: AS/400 / Unix

Hi, David:

I usually keep silent on these matters; don't want to start any wars.
But this time I must take exception to what you have said: "... any
Unix variant... has no particular interest in keeping your system
running..."

David, this is not fair, nor accurate.  AIX (a Unix variant from IBM) 
is most definitely interested in keeping your system running, and has 
done, at least at this site, a better job of that than our AS/400 or 
our mainframe (which is saying a lot).  You know that I am an AS/400 
bigot, so I hope you'll understand that this is not a putdown for 
that system.  But it is a fallacy to say that all unix systems are 
unreliable.

I will agree that one must be very careful with the choice of commands
and command line switches.  The system does assume that you know what
you are doing, for the most part.  But if you know what you're doing,
there's so much good that AIX and RS/6000 can do... and with so *LITTLE*
overhead.  (For example, you won't find a better communications machine
than a UNIX system... including your choice of AS/400 models.)

If there were a freeware version of OS/400 out there somewhere (Linxu400), 
it would probably be as quirky as Linux can seem to be.  People would be 
making the same sorts of comments about AS/400... and then I'd have to 
jump in and defend that system too.... which I would be most happy to do.

My $.02


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David Gibbs <david@midrange.com> on 01/13/98 08:14:22 AM
To: MIDRANGE-L <MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com> @ INTERNET
cc:  
Subject: Re:

I second the thought... with a few caveats...

1. Keep in mind that Linux (or any Unix variant) is NOT an AS/400... it has
no particular interest in keeping your system running... if you execute the
wrong command, it won't warn you... it will simply do it.  Trust me... when
you've run "MKFS" as many times as I have (and a few times on the wrong
device) you remember to double, tripple, and quadruple check your typing.

2. LINUX is freeware... and you get the support that you pay for.  If you
are expecting the same kind of tech support as you get for the AS/400, go
with a commercial Unix (SCO, Unixware, NetBSD, etc).

david

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