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Michael Ryan wrote:
Hmmm...not *quite* the same as having all the resources you would ever need at your fingertips and for free.
Heh, no argument there. Of course, it's been a very long time since I was able to get _any_ significant development facility for "free". I've paid multiple times for PCs, monitors, other hardware, operating system licenses, IDEs, whatever.
While I can now get items such as Linux for "free", it stills costs as much as a "free" timeshare on an AS/400 (i.e., includes ISP, telephone line, etc.) I have to find it and download it somehow.
The "free" timeshare at the rikascom.net site is pretty limited though.Their paid accounts, OTOH, at under $10/mo. for a year...? Quite a bit more than what's for "free". And there are other timeshares out there that offer similar.
Anyway, I see your point. I got off-track from thinking in terms of "college loaner program" which is more in line with what you were probably thinking. For that, even an extension of IBM's 'virtual loaner' program could be useful to extend smaller boxes that might be physically on site at a college.
I'm just a bit too far into personal responsibility rather than institutional. I was off into thinking of developers who wanted to advance in the careers they'd already started.
I just don't see that $100 or so for a year is that big of a deal. The access is either worth it for professional education or it's not.
I don't see much chance of someone who isn't willing to spend a few dollars of making any difference. In fact, I suspect the vast majority would be negatives for our platform. We are, after all, grouped around core business functions rather than flashy, whiz-bang, "gotta get the young developers' attention in 15 seconds or less", next-big-thing seekers.
Those who are simply looking for something to dabble in are more likely to complain loudly "No GUI! No .NET! No <insert whatever here>!" I think we can happily ignore them.
I'm not sure they're well suited for designing and implementing Payroll or General Ledger functions.
Besides, all the flashy stuff tends towards freely available in some form or other anyway. It often doesn't require an iSeries for learning.
I guess it just depends on goals. Tom Liotta
On 1/24/07, Tom Liotta <qsrvbas@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:Michael Ryan wrote:The total cost for all the software for learning and developing LAMP solutions is...minor drumroll...$0 USD. Sure...it's easier to fork over some bucks and get stuff on a CD, but you don't have to. And a cheap Intel box...probably have one lying around someplace. Wouldn't it be cool if there was a way, like Aaron suggested for the loaner program, to get people involved in i5 stuff?I like the loaner/virtual access as an alternative to acquiring a system. And there are various timeshare possibilities that have existed for years... e.g., [ http://www.rikascom.net/iseries.htm ] which has a limited "free" account available in addition to paid. AFAIK, no one needs to spend a bunch of money to gain experience on our platform. The Info Centers provide plenty of documentation and other areas of IBM web sites can add a lot (when you can find them).
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