Re: Thats all folks! -- MIDRANGE-L

Ray, since I have worked on MPE/iX and OS/400, I hope you will not take
offense if I say MPE/iX was FAR from fantastic (that includes IMAGE as
well).  Spend a bit more time with the iSeries before making an equal
comparison between it and OS/400.

Cheers!

Rick--

----- Original Message -----
From: "Shahan, Ray" <rshahan@SchoolSpecialty.com>
To: <midrange-l@midrange.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 1:41 PM
Subject: RE: Thats all folks!


> <ahem>, folks, this is the AS400 newbie (18 year hp veteran), and I'd like
> to offer a different point. All of you speak of the AS400 in terms of
it's
> 'better than anything else out there'...let's just clear that up
> quickly...it isn't.  The AS400 has some cool stuff, DEC's Alpha has some
> cool stuff, hp's MPE/ix has some cool stuff, and UNIX has some cools
stuff.
> All three of these proprietary OS's have things that they do better than
> their competitors, but not one of them reigns supreme overall...I can say
> this because I've worked with all three of 'em (a little UNIX too)...but
we
> can leave it as IMHO.
>
> The most important point about these proprietary OS's is not what one does
> better than the other, rather, it's what all 3 have in common...they are
> proprietary OS's, and right now, that ain't good in the public eye.
>
> Let me explain, GM tried for years to shake the image of the Oldsmobile
> brand as an old fogies car, the slogan was "This is not your fathers'
> Oldsmobile".  Try as they may, GM could not get the 'younger' generation
to
> buy the Oldsmobile brand, and hence, GM is shutting that brand down.
> Oldsmobile's problem is our proprietary OS's problem...our OS's are
> perceived as old, and not up with the times, and unless something happens
to
> change that mentality, then OS400 and DEC/VAX Alpha will go the way of the
> Oldsmobile along with MPE/ix (which has already been condemned by its
owner,
> hp).
>
> The true irony in all of this is that UNIX is older than any of the three
> proprietatry OS's I've worked with, yet UNIX is perceived as new...HA!!
>
> Last, but by no means least, UNIX (and every other flavor of it) is for
the
> most part, a free OS, and free is a hard price to compete with.  Free is
so
> lucrative that it allowed the creation and proliferation of a computer
> hardware company that had no OS...Sun Micro Systems (SCO UNIX is still a
> flavor of UNIX).
>
> Make no mistake about it, hp's MPE/ix OS is a fantastic OS (and IMAGE is a
> fantastic proprietary DB), but hp killed both in favor of hpux running on
a
> commodity manufactured box...don't think for a minute that IBM isn't
> carefully watching hp's results.  Because the success or failure of the
> demise of the hp3k, is also the barometer for the future of the AS400.
>
> NOTE: DEC's Alpha is already in the  toaster since hp owns that too.   :-(
>
>
> Ray Shahan
>
> "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans", John Lennon
>
> > at http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.
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