Re: AS/400

[Lou Forlini <lforlini@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 12:22 PM -0700 7/30/01, Chris Rehm wrote:
>Why yes, it is quite as easy as coding a traditional DDS display file. Why
>isn't everybody doing it this way? Everybody but AS/400 shops is doing it
>this way. For the VB programmer who has several years using his tools and
>environment, it might seem like it would be difficult to write code the way
>green screeners are.

    By "everybody", I meant in traditional AS/400 shops.  But you 
bring up another point - in VB code is even more intertwined with the 
UI unless you make a specific effort to separate it.  How many do?

>Why is it a losing proposition either way? If you "pay IBM's tax" did you
>lose? If you change everything did you lose? You have options, all of which
>have a cost involved. Is that different than it has been in the past? Did
>you ever have free options?

    I'm not discussing free, just the alternatives to having the 
customer go to another platform.

    I'm between the rock and a hard place.  To diligently show my 
customers the costs involved in an upgrade, I have to show them:

    a) the cost of the interactive tax, contrasted with
    b) the cost of altering existing, working apps to another method to avoid a)

    which they then compare with

    c) a proposal from a firm that will replace everything with NT

    and

    d) a proposal from a firm that will replace everything with Unix/Linux

    I can talk AS/400 advantages until I'm blue in the face, but the 
other guys can sing and dance, too.

    Regards,

    - Lou Forlini
      Software Engineer
      System Support Products, Inc.


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