Re: For all those COMMON old-timers

Hello Thomas,

Am 22.03.2024 um 22:21 schrieb Thomas Burrows <thomas.burrows.1957@xxxxxxxxx>:

Today in an interview I was asked what would be the major concerns about an upgrade going from V5R2 to V7R5. I pointed out that V5R2 went out of support in April 30 2007. So I asked the interviewer if they really had a platform still running a release level that had been out of support for nearly SIXTEEN years?

Well, support is like an insurance. At the end of the day you might end up with a major issue which they say is not covered by it. Or — as has been reported by others in the group — is a barely competent individual who isn't up to the task and might screw up things even more by trying.

My previous employer often suggested to not use a free Linux like Debian, but a company owned like RHL, because of available support. My colleague and I then had to remind him that we tried that and often got stuck with support being unable to help in a timely manner. Instead we've managed to solve each and every problem ourselves more quickly. Of course this takes a lot of expertise. But then, we have that.

And had the hardware had any issues????

Why should it? Isn't IBM famous for constructing very reliable hardware? I have IBM "midrange grade" SCSI disks in use which are from the pre 2000s. No issue at all. My 150 runs 24/7 like a charm, for years.

"No support" doesn't equal "the system instantly stops working". No support feels like yet another "cover my ass" strategy. And of course, in modern times with each and everything "connected to the internet" (meaningful or not), security updates are increasingly important, even for niche platforms like IBM i. Not only because the increasing amount of OpenSource software being used, that is.

Just saying.

:wq! PoC