RE: New redpaper: i5/OS Program Conversion: Getting readyfor i5/OSV6R1 -- MIDRANGE-L

I agree!

But, you have to remember that it's easy to think everyone is up to spec
when you're on a list like this.. most on this list keep up to date on OS
versions, but when you think about what percent of the i5 population we
represent, it's actually quite miniscule.

Every week I get about 10-15 emails from clients upgrading to V5R3 or V5R4
asking questions about compatibility, so they are slowly moving up. :)

I actually still have some 170s using my software... not THAT old of a
machine, but still not new. :) I should look through for older machines
than that.. lol

Bradley V. Stone
BVSTools - www.bvstools.com
eRPG SDK - www.erpgsdk.com

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Crump, Mike
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 2:25 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: New redpaper: i5/OS Program Conversion: Getting readyfor
i5/OSV6R1

Brad wrote:

"I would guess at least 20-30% are pre V5, another 30-40 are V5R1/2 and
the rest maybe V5R3/4. I would be willing to bet other ISVs that do
support lower OS versions would have similar numbers."

Holy *&^%. That might help partially explain why the system is not
considered modern.......V5R1 was announced in 2001, V5R2 was announced
in 2002, V5R3 announced in 2004. Makes almost any other Wintel or Unix
system look like it is comparatively ultra modern to i5/OS when in fact
it isn't.

Michael Crump

Manager, Computing Services
Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc.
1509 S. Macedonia Ave.
Muncie, IN 47302
765.741.7696
765.741.7012 f

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-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bradley V. Stone
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 3:14 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: New redpaper: i5/OS Program Conversion: Getting readyfor
i5/OSV6R1

Oh yes... I certainly do. You'd be surprised how many on V4xx I sell
too.
I know I am. :)

I would guess at least 20-30% are pre V5, another 30-40 are V5R1/2 and
the
rest maybe V5R3/4. I would be willing to bet other ISVs that do support
lower OS versions would have similar numbers. Of course, if you only
support V5R1 and up, you probably won't have many V4 customers.

It was actually just earlier this year I bumped from V3R2 to V4R5. Only
had
a couple issues (V4R2 that I just gave them old versions of my software,
and
when they upgrade OS they can upgrade my software). So I may have beena
little over catious.

But, as you said, they probably don't want to spend 10k on the software
so
they get it from me for a couple hundred. :)

This, my friends, is the reason when I write articles, books, etc, my
code
is not free-format yet. lol! Everything I do is still fixed.

Bradley V. Stone
BVSTools - www.bvstools.com
eRPG SDK - www.erpgsdk.com

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of rob@xxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 1:56 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: New redpaper: i5/OS Program Conversion: Getting readyfor
i5/OSV6R1

Do you really make new sales to businesses running older than V5R1?
Perhaps it is a little prejudice on my part but I often suspected that
people running older versions didn't want to put a dime into their i5

and

therefore were not inclined to purchase new software for it.

Rob Berendt
--
Group Dekko Services, LLC
Dept 01.073
PO Box 2000
Dock 108
6928N 400E
Kendallville, IN 46755
http://www.dekko.com

"Bradley V. Stone" <brad@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent by: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
07/23/2007 02:52 PM
Please respond to
Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

To
"Midrange Systems Technical Discussion" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
cc

Fax to

Subject
RE: New redpaper: i5/OS Program Conversion: Getting ready for

i5/OSV6R1

I would be MORE than happy to support only IBM supported OS releases..

but

since I don't charge "outrageous" prices/maintenance/support (lol) I'd

be

losing out on about 1/2 of my sales... Every little bit helps for me.

I

personally am in no way pounding my chest bragging how far back my
software
goes. :)

I will most likely be movingn to V5R1 as a min OS very soon. If

someone

needs an older version, I can give them an older version of my

software.

Bradley V. Stone
BVSTools - www.bvstools.com
eRPG SDK - www.erpgsdk.com

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces+brad=bvstools.com@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces+brad=bvstools.com@xxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf

Of

rob@xxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 1:46 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: New redpaper: i5/OS Program Conversion: Getting ready

for

i5/OSV6R1

It is a major pain in the ...

Basically the rule is if your program has been recompiled with V5R1

or

later you shouldn't generally have any problems - observability or

no.

About a year ago many ISV's were thrown into a room together and
told this
and to prepare. In general, they haven't. IBM will release PTF's

that

will bring back ANZOBJCVN and STROBJCVN (if you want to spread out

the

conversion time). Until these ptf's are available there are

alternative

ways to generate this information. Basically you're looking for

programs

and service programs compiled prior to V5R1 with no observability.
Wrapping the right API into a UDF and bouncing that against the

output

from DSPOBJD or some such thing works fine.

Some vendors that I know of that need work with their - publicly

released

- versions include:
TL Ashford
SSA's BPCS (at least the old 405CD version we use)
Seagull
Unicorn (but since they are dropping all their customers and telling

them

to go elsewhere good luck getting a refresh).
Softlanding's Turnover.

Once again, I'd rather buy software from a vendor that proudly
displays on
their website that they only support versions of OS that are

currently

supported by IBM than a vendor who pounds their chest and brags
that their
software still runs on V2R1. There are vendors that DO display

these

disclaimers on their website.

Rob Berendt
--
Group Dekko Services, LLC
Dept 01.073
PO Box 2000
Dock 108
6928N 400E
Kendallville, IN 46755
http://www.dekko.com

David Gibbs <david@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent by: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
07/23/2007 01:29 PM
Please respond to
Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

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Subject
New redpaper: i5/OS Program Conversion: Getting ready for i5/OS V6R1

This redpaper just showed up on the http://planet.midrange.com feed
today ...

Abstract: IBM(r) plans to deliver i5/OS(r) V6R1 in 2008. With this

new

release, IBM will require conversion of all programs created under
previous releases that use the i5/OS Machine Interface (MI). This
conversion upgrades and refreshes programs to take advantage of the
latest system enhancements, including enhanced system integrity,
improved performance, and a range of new operating system and

processor

capabilities. In order for a program to be converted, its creation

data

(sometimes referred to as observability) must be available. Programs
created for V5R1 or later have their creation data automatically

saved

during program creation. Clients and ISVs with programs created for
OS/400(r) V4R5 and earlier need to ensure that the creation data is
available for the conversion process.

http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/redp4293.html

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