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

As we all know by now, I am a Linux guy.

I must say the OS/400 being able to do F4 to get parameters, do wrk* or wrk?
to get a list of possible commands is immensely helpful.

A lot fo what i learned to do on the AS/400 I did by typing wrk* and just
scrollign through till I saw a command that might do what i needed.

For Linux, www.google.com is my usualy reference.

Adam Lang
Systems Engineer
Rutgers Casualty Insurance Company
http://www.rutgersinsurance.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Pluta" <joepluta@PlutaBrothers.com>
To: <midrange-l@midrange.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 9:22 AM
Subject: RE: OT - Shutting down an RS/6000 ?


> > From: Hans Boldt
> >
> > And if a Unix admin wanted to find out how to shutdown an iSeries,
> > would it really be any easier for him to discover the PWRDWNSYS command?
>
> Hans, I hope you're not actually intimating that a Unix system is as
> user-friendly as an AS/400.  If so, your bias is getting a little
lopsided,
> even for you.
>
>
> > Like any operating system, you have to learn the commands and
> > conventions. OS/400 has its quirks too - I still can't always figure
> > out when to use WRKxxx or STRxxx or DSPxxx etc. after 21 years on
> > this system!
>
> Is this the OS, or you?  The fact that you can say WRKxxx shows that
OS/400
> commands are named consistently, something you certainly cannot say about
> Unix commands.
>
>
> > But just as OS/400 operators know to press F4 or F1 for
> > assistance, Unix/Linux/Posix operators know about command option -h
> > or --help, or how to read a manpage.
>
> Which doesn't work on the shutdown command.  And the fact that you can
> prompt an OS/400 command, and a parameter, while entering the command
makes
> it light years ahead of a man page.  Not only that, the F4 assist menu
> groups all related commands, and the GO CMDxxx allows you to look up
> commands by verb or noun.
>
> If I see the command WRKSYSSTS, or EDTF, or CRTDEVD, I have a pretty good
> idea of what it does from the name.  Also, I can usually find the command
I
> need by knowing the appropriate abbreviation, such as CRT for "create" or
> SPLF for "spooled file".  If I want to create something in OS/400, I type
GO
> CMDCRT.  If I want to find out what commands are available for spooled
> files, I type GO CMDSPLF.
>
> On the other hand, in Unix, "cat" is copy, "grep" is string search, "man"
is
> help, "ls" is directory contents.  How does one figure out what commands
> such as "df", "chmod", "sed", "stty" or "ps" do?  By going to the man
pages
> for each individual command.  But how do you even know which command to
look
> at?  Unix really shows its age and its temperament when you have commands
> like "yacc" (Yet Another Compiler Compiler).  The name is cute, but
> arbitrary.  Much Unix expertise is like this - more of a mythology handed
> down over the generations than a self-consistent body of knowledge.
>
> I've worked on both operating systems (and a few others besides), and
while
> I've spent more time on OS/400 than Unix, I think you're one of the only
> people who would ever suggest that Unix commands are even close to OS/400
in
> ease of use.  It's these sorts of statements that really sort of taint
your
> other, often very valid, comments, Hans.
>
> Joe
>
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