RE: Tabs in SEU ... I am SICK of it... PLEASE STOP!

["jt" <jt@xxxxxx>]

| -----Original Message-----
| Sent: Friday, October 11, 2002 9:30 PM

| No NEED for ANYONE not interested to read this looooooooong post,
| of course.

And if You took a pass on the prior post last week, then this one will be a
snoozer.


But I can't help but wonder if I left a wrong impression in that one.  It
may have appeared that I had my sights set and the crosshairs on the folks
in Toronto.  (In fact, it probably DID appear that way to at least some,
because I've expressed my disappointment that RPG has turned into C on
steroids, in the past.)  However, I have a lot of respect for those folks
because of the difficult position they are in...  They sure hafta know how
to wear two hats.

(Although all of us wear multiple hats, trying to act sane and still fit
into a world that has basically gone insane...;-)

But my understanding is that the people in the Toronto Lab work in the
Software Group, providing their wares to the iSeries Division of the Server
Group (which are pretty much like two WHOLE different companies).


Now, I had a vulcan-mind-meld with Mr. Haines one phone call, a long time
ago, but some of it actually stuck with me...  And one of the things He told
me was that the iSeries is really THE ONLY (what-you'd-call) IBM-centric
solution that IBM offers.  And that there are POWERFUL forces that really do
NOT favor an all-IBM solution, at ALL.  Not just WITHIN IBM, either, but
throughout the ENTIRE Computer Industry...  People want "Open" systems

A lot was packed into those few words...!

So.. many prefer "Open" Source software because it is errantly thought to be
cheap (and even more.. "free").  That's why I feel for anybody working in
the Software Group which, to my eye, appears to be trying to say THERE IS NO
CAKE, but they're gonna eat it too, anyway...  So, although I like SOME of
the ideas involved with "Open" Source, it makes the market anti-competitive
in the long run, the way it's presently going.

(I mean... How can any company selling software compete against "free"...?!?
The only way I know of is based on quality of the product and support.  And
a lot of companies will go the route of "free" regardless of the actual
expense and actual quality of support.)

And in a market where NEWLY ANNOUNCED and NEWLY RE-DESIGNED FROM GROUND UP
is given preference over ACTUALLY DELIVERED and ACTUALLY WORKS EFFECTIVELY,
what company has the TIME to develop quality software, of the quality that
the iSeries Division generally offers...?



So I sure wish all the folks in Toronto (as well as Rochester, of course!)
the best-o-luck, and hope I haven't implied otherwise.


Sincerely,