RE: Linux and V5R2

[Jim Damato <jdamato@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Pradip Shah
>OS/400 is about 20+ years old.
>It is a character based OS.
>IBM has pushed it after as it can go.

This is a somewhat extreme (silly) oversimplification.  What is an operating
system?  Can an operating system really be considered to be character based?
There's a huge difference between the meat of an operating system's
functionality and its user interfaces.  If an one operating system has
better functionality or performance than another it's certainly not because
of its graphical interface.  One could use this same logic to suggest that
Linux or Unix have been pushed as far as they can go since they have their
roots in the same 30 year old "character based" workstation OS.

I like to think of the evolution of OS/400, Linux, or the various
proprietary Unixes as enhancement and refinement toward stable maturity.
Many of us pray for the day when Microsoft pushes Windows as far as it can
go.


>It is IBM's stated objective to go all out
>and support Linux.

I expect that Linux will both orient and confuse IBM's direction for their
platforms for years to come.  If you read this deeply into IBM's stated
objectives from 3 or 4 years ago you'd probably be saying that they were
going to rewrite OS/400 completely in Java.

-Jim

James P. Damato
Manager - Technical Administration
Dollar General Corporation
<mailto:jdamato@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>