Re: Green-screen versus browser

[Alan C <steelville@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I'd much rather see web applications that actually run on the iSeries 
> (using the browser to render the results) so that you get all of the 
> advantages of the iSeries!  Stability, job logs and other diagnostic 
> tools, all of the advantages that go with the design of SLIC and the 
> single level storage model, the security model, etc.

Hurrah! It's impractical to change our applications overnight, but 
indeed centralizing the programming and delivering up the results in a 
display format that runs on any client machine gives you complete 
control over the program function at the (iSeries) server level.

I know this is preaching to the choir, but all these things we always 
agree on apply even to those parts of our programming logic that we 
might otherwise offload to a client. Except for those elements 
comprising the presentation method (5250, GUI, etc.)

If your programs are in the i5/os, then your programming is protected 
from the waves and tribulations on other client systems, or at least by 
an order of magnitude or two. You're on a proven OS with a proven 
support team. I believe in "open source" but this OS has proven that you 
can have a good, well-designed, stable, and extremely secure-able 
platform for your programs.

That said, almost all my programming has been in support of 5250 screens 
and batch programs, but I think that iSeries shops need to start getting 
all our programs re-adapted to GUI presentation interfaces. 5250 screens 
are great, there are really great unused possibilities with the DSPF 
radio buttons and pull-down and all.

But there will come a time at anyplace we're at when some competitor 
will come along with a user screen that has a "picture" on it, and it 
will create a need in the purchasing agent. Like the guy at the counter 
will be able to show a picture of the Doohickey (Size-Large) in 3D to 
his customer.  That might take something like Java (rotate the image to 
give the customer an idea) in specialized cases, maybe.

I think the "ideal happy medium" for hardware would be thin clients 
supported by the i5.

-- Alan

> If everyone switched to VARPG, why would we need the iSeries?

Is IBM starting to move some of those Windows-only iSeries support 
programs to Linux and/or Mac and/or other?

-- Alan