Re: Software Vendors - A small rant

See...IBM should have gone the route that Oracle has gone with Java. This just came into my inbox:

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End of Public Updates for Java SE 6

The last publicly available release of Oracle JDK 6 is to be released in February, 2013. This means that after February 19, 2013, all new security updates, patches and fixes for Java SE 6 and Java SE 5 will only be available through My Oracle Support and will thus require a commercial license with Oracle.
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If IBM had sun-setted the AS/400, iSeries and System i in the same manner, offering no support whatsoever without a "commercial" support contract, folks might have upgraded. Instead, boxes run forever and updates were easy to get without a support contract (until very recently).

Building something that lasts and supporting it while it lasts is a concept very few companies pursue. Better to come up with a new version, force folks to upgrade or else and charge exorbitant fees for the privilege...that's how to make money in this business.

This spoken by a guy who has a 1993 Toyota Previa van with 270,000 miles on it....(and loves Toyota for just that reason)....it just runs....

Pete Helgren
www.petesworkshop.com
GIAC Secure Software Programmer-Java

On 12/11/2012 4:06 PM, Jim Oberholtzer wrote:

Note to software vendors: If you want me to consider your software for
the IBM i operating environment running on Power Systems, please do not
call it, iSeries, AS/400, System i, or my personal favorite System/38.
Clearly if you don't know the name of the system your working on I
cannot trust your software. Most of the vendors monitor this list and
don't hand me the line: "That's what our customers call it....." Don't
correct the customer but always use the correct terminology when you are
speaking and guess what, they will start using it too....

What brought this rant on? Three calls today from vendors asking if I
would like to talk about their iSeries or AS/400 products..... Geesh..
Now I'm starting to sound a bit like Trevor without the accent.....

I'll be quiet now.