RE: Hardware (was: System i Innovation Award --CommunitySupportcategory)

From: albartell

I think we sometimes put ourselves into the mindset that if System i5
scenarios aren't how Windows or Linux does it then we need to change so we
can compete in the race when in all reality the System i5 is much further
along in certain areas compared to other platforms. I would consider
prepackaging the DB and OS as one such case.

You're right on the money here, Aaron. I've been trying to explain this
concept to IBM, and yet the folks who should know better are now trumpeting
the "unbundling" malarkey. You'll be hearing from some of the high
muckety-mucks at IBM over the coming months about how unbundling development
tools is actually GOOD for the community. Some of the nuttier folks will
even talk about breaking apart 5722WDS again so that you have to purchase
each compiler separately.

It's time to tell IBM exactly where to stuff this nonsense. They want to
build an a la carte entry machine? That's the System p. But leave the "i"
in System i to stand for "integration", and better yet for "integrated".
Don't make me go hat in hand to the CIO every time I need a new tool --
instead, let me simply say "it's in there!" Otherwise there's really no
point to the System i (which of course is what some people would have you
believe: that IBM is trying desperately to kill the box, but that it just
won't die).

There are a couple of folks in particular pushing this unbundling, and the
majority of the push is coming from the Rational side of the world as you
might guess. The same folks who gave you EGL for free and yanked it are now
looking to force you to pay for each individual tool you use. If you think
this is a stupid idea, I suggest you tell IBM.

Joe