On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 1:38 PM, Tim Rowe <timmr@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
We created this LPO so that we could easily update it when we wanted to
deliver new additional Open Source things. We are currently working on
Option 2
and I would expect that to be available in the not too distant future. We
will be continuing to add new options on a regular cadence. (at least that
is the plan!)
Interesting. I was wondering if we are allowed to know what Option 2
is, exactly. So I went Googling to see if that information had been
released (or leaked).
While I didn't find any matches for "5733OPS Option 2", nibbling
around the edges turned up your (Tim Rowe's) blog on System i
Developer, and in your Dec 12 entry last year, detailing Node.js, you
said this:
[from
https://www.systemideveloper.com/blogs/?q=node/27]
"Option 1 is our brand new Node.JS delivery. As we move forward with
more technologies for IBM i, we will continue to add new options, each
option containing a new delivery. For example, we are looking at
possibly shipping Python in the future that would then be included in
a new option."
So the odds-on favorite for Option 2 seems to be Python! (And even if
something is ahead of it in the pipeline, I would think Python shows
up no later than Option 3 or 4.)
This is exciting for me, but probably shouldn't be all too surprising,
as there is ample evidence that Python has been used internally at IBM
for years. (After seeing PHP and Ruby for i, I had wondered why not
Python.) There is also this on DeveloperWorks:
[from
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/wikis/home?lang=en#!/wiki/IBM%20i%20Technology%20Updates/page/Software%20Prerequisites]
"If you need to add extensions or any of the third party add on
modules there are a couple of non-license programs components that you
will need to have included in your PASE environment. These are all
open source components not currently shipped by IBM i (but may be in
the future)
Non-License Software (open source)
* Python - required by npm to build the third-party add-on
* GCC - required if you want to build third-party C/C++ based
addons through npm
* Git - required if you want to build third-party addons which
use Github as the source codes repository through npm"
While encouraging, all this is also a little bittersweet, because no
doubt an *official* PASE Python from IBM will likely will push the
already small iSeriesPython niche into even further obscurity, if not
spell its outright extinction.
Still, overall it's more important (both for IBM itself and for the
IBM midrange community at large) to have an official Python for i than
to have a healthy iSeriesPython, unless they can be one and the same.
(We were actually brainstorming a better, newer name for iSeriesPython
recently, but I guess that will soon be moot.)
John Y.
midrange.com
