On 7/2/2018 12:21 PM, Jack Woehr wrote:
Here's why you can't find it: it's not there :)
Yes, that's why I put my note into the aether. On IBM i, there is no
'man' command, and as of today, it can't be installed.
You mean .. you dare to use Open Source ... and you don't have a Linux or
BSD installation on your network?
This is a midrange forum, so I myself was thinking only about IBM i.
But that's an interesting point. I have wide latitude when it comes to
what I can install (and support) on my server (IBM i) but I have zero
latitude when it comes to what the infrastructure people will install
and support on their side of the router. I'm trying to imagine the
business case they'll want to hear about when I ask them to set me up a
Linux box when exactly none of our software runs on Linux. :-(
The solemn truth is that the IBM i environment will never be rich enough to
encompass all the tools you need to live in Open Source land.
You *need* a Linux or BSD box handy to support your IBM i Open Source
environment. It's indispensable if you're going down the Open Source path.
I deeply value your thoughts; it's not every day I have access to a
pioneer in our industry! Open source is a really big space, and I know
that I myself haven't much hope of navigating much of it at all. And
yet...
I was able to do a proof of concept Python program that uses requests
and a few other open source Python packages to deal with the HTTP
PUT/GET to a web service, parse the JSON and XML responses, and deal
with the general communications infrastructure in a few hours. All on
IBM i alone.
In a few days I'll celebrate my 40th year on the midrange platform -
virtually all of it as an RPG programmer. With that dubious background
noted, I found it an easier idea, or concept to try it in Python rather
than RPG. I got all the comms out of the way, and encapsulated in a way
that's eminently testable. After that, it will plug right in to my RPG
code (via pipes).
The point of this ramble is that I don't intend to live in open source
land. At least, not to any great extent. I have nigh unto a million
lines of RPG code, and that is where I live. Where I use open source,
it's as an extension to RPG. On the edges, if you will.
I do agree with the sentiment of your note though. The notion that
someone with no OSS experience is going to follow a few listserv posts
and ./configure, make, make install an open source application is...
naïve at best. If a long time RPGer like me wants to start using OSS,
some experience with OSS will help A Lot.
It'll be a very interesting time ahead as we midrangers try to work out
what OSS to put on IBM i / PASE and what to put on a separate Linux
machine. Right now, I'm having fun on the IBM i side of that line! :-)
midrange.com
