Re: Why i??? NEED YOUR INPUT

IBM keeps its new stuff like Open IO under wraps compared to MSFT which

releases beta and RC bits far in advance.

Lots of people have access to Open IO beta, including myself. I will say
that IBM definitely holds their cards closer than others like Microsoft.

You have to open source the system for it to grow and prosper. The OS,ILE,

and RPG. ( DB2 is not needed if the code which couples the database to the
OS is published. )

Open source and open spec can both give life and destroy life. Look at how
long it has taken HTML5 to get legs and take off because of all the cooks in
the kitchen. Look at the results of Sun with all of it's open source (data
bases, languages, and operating systems). By not being open source you can
make things happen a lot faster IMO, because many times that means you
control more ends of the spectrum and can make things more integrated. In
the end it is more an issue of personality than open source that ails the
IBMi/RPG community. Though we are definitely making tracks, though it is
still no where near other communities.

Been doing Silverlight work lately. Fascinating how decoupled the SL

client is from the server OS. Windows server and even SQL server have
nothing special to offer a SL client which the client can't get from a
server like IBM i, Linux or AIX.

Using Silverlight for user interfacing applications is a bit like VisualAge
for RPG - always behind and never quite works like the true server
language. Take a look at this page to see how well Silverlight is
supported. Note they are two releases behind on Mac and don't choose to
formally support Linux - not to mention their own various Windows operating
systems:
http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/get-started/install/default.aspx

Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com
http://mowyourlawn.com/blog/


On Thu, Feb 25, 2010 at 11:42 AM, Steve Richter <stephenrichter@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:

On Thu, Feb 25, 2010 at 10:19 AM, Aaron Bartell <aaronbartell@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Hi All,

Was on a call with IBM and the YiPs team yesterday. They are looking for
ways to liven up, and modernize, their message about the benefits of the

IBM

i. The cool thing is that the folks on the phone weren’t your

traditional

marketing folks but people that have grown up with the machine and

actually

BELIEVE it is one of the best platforms for business today – specifically
the IBM i OS.

The people on the phone might not have been traditional marketing
types, but they are asking the same, traditional question.

IBM keeps its new stuff like Open IO under wraps compared to MSFT
which releases beta and RC bits far in advance.

You have to open source the system for it to grow and prosper. The OS,
ILE, and RPG. ( DB2 is not needed if the code which couples the
database to the OS is published. )

Been doing Silverlight work lately. Fascinating how decoupled the SL
client is from the server OS. Windows server and even SQL server have
nothing special to offer a SL client which the client can't get from a
server like IBM i, Linux or AIX.

-Steve