I'm late in the thread so forgive what might have already been offered..., and yeah - I couldn't resist the overall debate.
Give me a command line and a 'dumb' terminal anytime. I can get more done with a simple interface than can be done with a fancy one.
I can out-type anyone clicking, dragging and dropping. GUI interfaces are best for those who basically don't know how the system actually works, and don't know how to talk to it.
The number of times I've re-booted my GUI interface can't be counted. But I've never had a 5250 session fail unless the host went down. It's too bad I'm forced to work through windows to get to my 5250 emulation. I'd rather be directly connected and have less layers between me.
'The best tool for the job' is usually what's forgotten. Do you have an Exec that likes graphs? Fire up the right tool. Want to get something _really_ done - talk to the computer in it's terms, through the simplest interface possible. Especially, when it's as stable as the 5250.
I'm looking forward to all the counter responses that think computers _started_ with Windows and GUI type interfaces. I was programming horizontal and vertical blank interrupt routines directly into the Rockwell 6502 processor (on the Atari 800) in the 70's and I managed to increase the system output by approx 20% - and it was all command line. I'd like to see anyone drag-and-drop that.
I've seen a company throw away a stable supported architecture (5250 IBM) in favor of a mass of servers and networks and interfaces and laptops. All that's happened is that that company has more complexity, more problems, and higher power bills. No real output or performance increase has been achieved. My compliments to Nathan who pointed out that (again -sorry) the Best tool for the job is what is always warranted. Get out of your comfort zone and solitaire playing, and come back to the computer 'real world'.
Best wishes
Jim
p.s Yup, wish I could stay in Linux/Unix too. Someday I'll write my own. It might even rival SLOTH (special language with one verb - sleep)
Quality means doing the right thing when no one is looking
Henry Ford
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Nathan Andelin
Sent: Thursday, 19 March 2009 15:31
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: Green Screen (Dumb Terminal) Email Client for System i
From: John Taylor
I don't want to fork this thread into another 5250 vs GUI debate ...
Too late. The OP asked for a 5250 solution and a bunch of us have already suggested alternatives ranging from Linux (text based), to browser based thin clients, to fat (rich) Windows based clients & servers.
I followed up on a few of the links to 5250 based email solutions and found that they actually offered more than I expected. Address books, mail folders, automatic word wrap, spell check, attachments, spool files, etc. A 5250 client would be hard pressed to implement drag & drop, but there would be no problem organizing and maintaining database tables, IFS directories, and stream files.
If the OP wanted to build his own 5250 interface, there were also links to a number of relevant articles, and IBM i servers, and open-source solutions that could be used and integrated.
So it seems to come down to such things as drag & drop and GUI fonts, vs. 25 X 80 text-based screens. I suppose some would argue the merits of local composition & storage of messages.
Nathan.
midrange.com
