Re: Have you read this? -- MIDRANGE-L

Leslie,

As I wrote to Hans earlier, I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT want to just come up with 
reasons that your generous offer will not work, just highlight why others 
have failed in the past:

In a message dated 1/14/00 10:35:34 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
leslier@datrek.com writes:

> > A.  No free compiler available, ergo no way to test code prior to posting.
>  Well that would be a valid argument but for the fact that open source
>  began on *nix systems long before linux hit the streets. Open source is
>  a proven software development model. 
>  http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/

Yes, but they _DID_ have _SOME_ form of *nix available at home.  Those that 
didn't had it available at school.  How many schools teach classes _ON_ the 
AS/400 _AND_ offer 24-7 availability to students on the platform?  I did not 
say that open source WOULD NOT work for the AS/400, merely that its' 
progenitors had more issues to work through than do _MOST_ open source forums.

>  > C.  No students here, we're all working 50-90 hours/week as it is.
>  Again a valid argument, except that many on this list claim to be
>  teachers, they could and I am sure will point their students to open
>  source as a way to enhance their skills quickly. 

Ahh, but therein lies "the rub".  Most (and certainly not all) teachers on 
the platform do so FOR MONEY.  Would "The 400 Group", "HAL", "ASC" and their 
ilk give up lesson plans for free?  I don't think so.

>  > D.  Due to C and the nature of the AS/400 itself (see A and B), there's 
no
>  > way to have peer review of code before it goes out to the general public.
>  That's just the point the general public in conjunction with open source
>  developers will not only review the software, but maintain it as well.
>  To quote Eric S. Raymond; ``Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are
>  shallow''.

Assuming that you find people with the time to do so...

>  > E.  Far too few people using ILE, stored procedures, and their ilk to 
come 
> >up with a meaningful library.
>  The question here is, do few people use procedure prototyping because
>  they don't understand it? If this is true, what better way to learn than
>  to see it done and to be allowed to tinker with the code yourself. 

Again, excellent idea.  I just hope that people take to it...

Good Luck!

Dean Asmussen
Enterprise Systems Consulting, Inc.
Fuquay-Varina, NC  USA
E-mail:  DAsmussen@aol.com

"Experience is a wonderful thing.  It enables you to recognize a mistake when 
you make it again." -- Anonymous
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