RE: How to move forward -- MIDRANGE-L

> From: Tom Liotta
> 
> Probably _LOTS_ of debate available on the paragraph as a whole.

Well, yes lots of debate of the semi-religious type I mentioned, which I
don't intend to get into.  On the other hand, if you have specific
facts, such as major iSeries users running their systems on Python, feel
free to post them to the list.


> But I'm
> curious about the final question in particular. Why would IBM not
support
> it? How would it be any different from IBM supporting FTP or ODBC
after
> exit programs from a 3rd-party vendor were installed?

Maybe I'm wrong, but in my experience if I call IBM and say "My
third-party FTP exit program is crashing", they're going to tell me to
call the third party.


> What about
> supporting a crashed web site that includes web-enabled applications
after
> 3rd-party conversion to alter dspf I/O statements to 3rd-party
external
> calls to handle JSPs?

Hmm.  This is a pretty specific attack on my product, which I never
really mentioned as an option, but let me address it anyway, especially
since it's really an attack on all third party software vendors.  First
off, let's separate application errors from OS/middleware errors.  I
assume you're capable of handling your own application errors.  If not,
you have much larger issues than which web-enabling technique to use.

If you use nothing but RPG and a JSP Model II application, which is what
I suggested in my post, then any non-application errors are by
definition OS/400 errors - either in RPG or WebSphere.  These would be
directly supported by IBM.

Now, if you use PSC/400 to web-enable your system, you will be using
three pieces of software: RPG, my middleware, and WebSphere.  IBM will
support the RPG and WebSphere portions, and the company you bought
PSC/400 from will support the PSC/400 middleware, like any other
commercial product.  If RPG or WebSphere crashes you call IBM and if my
code crashes you call your PSC/400 technical support contact.

So let's say you use Python instead.  Let's say you use Per Gummedal's
Python for the iSeries, the most mature of the implementations.  If
Python performs incorrectly, here's your recourse:

"For questions and remarks, please drop me (Per Gummedal) an e-mail at:
p.g@xxxxxxx"

Do you not see a difference in support here?  If you don't see a
difference and email support from Norway is all you need for your
systems, then Python is a valid option.  And I said that in my post: for
small, non-critical or pilot applications, these one-off tools are great
learning opportunities.


> I'm not clear on why Python applications would be any different as
long as
> source is available. Certainly the customer must be prepared to handle
> such crashes first as an application bug before deciding to turn it
over
> to IBM, but even application support is possible.

Hopefully I made this clear.  I may be wrong, but I'm reasonably certain
IBM will not support problems in Per Gummedal's Python runtime.

Joe