Re: OT - Shutting down an RS/6000 ? -- MIDRANGE-L

Draper, Dale wrote:

From: Hans Boldt [mailto:boldt=G1DYhSM1WHTQT0dZR+AlfA@public.gmane.org]
Look Joe, I don't mean to criticize OS/400, but its command set can
be just as confusing to a Posix programmer as the Posix command set
can be to an OS/400 programmer.

True, does UNIX offer the menu "MAJOR" (or something similar)to find
commands with though?

An F4 from any command line brings you to this menu. Very handy for newbies
and dummies like myself.

Technically, I'm not sure if there is any one operating system
called "Unix" these days. What we have are numerous operating
systems that are compatible to a great degree (at least from a
programming point of view). Some common "Unix-like" (or Posix
compatible) OS's are AIX, Solaris, FreeBSD, and Linux.

As far as I know, most Linux distributions offer some form of
interactive help. Red Hat and KDE (in particular) include good help
utilities (including search) that offer up access to the manpages.
So, in a windowed development environment, you can have a window
showing the manpages, along with command shell windows, editors,
file managers, etc.

You bring up a good point about user interface design. One
difference between the design of OS/400 and most Posix command
shells is this: Who do you want to make things easy for? And how do
you balance the needs of the newby versus the needs of the
experienced developer. The design of Posix command shells typically
favor the experienced users who don't need no fancy prompting.

Like I said before, I don't mean to imply that one is necessarily
better than other. But for me, I really don't miss F4 prompting in
the Posix command shell. And I don't often refer to the manpages
either, since the "-h" or "--help" option in most commands offer
sufficient help. (On the other hand, on an OS/400 command line, I
*do* find F4 very useful (which isn't necessarily a compliment for
the OS/400 command philosophy).)

Finally, I know personally what it feels like to be a complete
"clueless newby" when it comes to Linux. Five years ago, I first
installed Linux on my home computer, and when it booted up I looked
at a plain screen and wondered "what the heck am I getting myself
into!". Fortunately, more recent Linux distros are more user
friendly, but there's still a steep learning curve. Fortunately,
there's a lot of help available, in the manpages, in on-line fora,
in books, etc.

And oh yeah, there's no reason you can't be a fan of both OS/400 and
Linux - it's not an "either-or" proposition. And once you get the
hang of Linux, it can indeed be a lot of fun!

Cheers!  Hans