Another rant on InfoCenter (was RE: VMS, etc. (was Proprietary Systems... from midrange-l))

Leif, Jim

(Glad you guys got this on the right list, BTW...:-)


Just taking a quick break, and this happened to be on the top of the stack.

Just to be contrarian, Leif, I'll add a few thoughts:  You CAN NOT keep
anything FROM changing.  Things change.. Poop happens...

Change, if done properly, can increase stability and functionality.  The 38
was the hallmark of this philosophy, but then things changed REAL
SLOOOOOWLY, on the 38...  Seen A HUGE AMOUNT of change.. changes mostly FOR
THE BETTER on the iSeries...


RANT(*ON)

But, for a number of reasons, seen a lot of changes for the worse, also...
People just accept this as being a necessary element of change, but it
isn't...  Classic example of change for the worse:  Soon as the team took
control of the iSeries documentation, they turned it into the FUBAR known as
InfoCenter...  Took away functionality that was in BookManager, and made it
unavailable (by "moving" books out of BookManager, into an InfoCenter that
still has a long way to go, yet)...

They could have started by duplicating all the good features of BookManager,
and adding more good features...  Instead, they still don't have all the
good features of BookManager, as far as I can see...  (speed, reliability,
search results.. small details like that...).  I just did a search on the
word RCVDTAQ, and got 1 hit: "User Exit Program for Additional Security for
DDM".  I sure wasn't expecting that...!

The folks that designed and support InfoCenter, obviously never worked on a
400...  If there careers depended on this info, like mine does (and I'm not
sure why their's don't...?) they'd scrap the daggone thing and start over...


But if I was a bettin' man...:  I'd lay money there is nobody over 40 on
that team, and if there are, they aren't strong contributors on the project.
The reason I say that is that I'm fairly certain these kids on the
InfoCenter team have grown up using M$ products, and they hold them up as
the standard to reach.

"Geezers", like myself and a few others, know that reaching the standard set
by M$ doesn't amount to much, once you've gotten to know the 38/400/i
platform real well...

RANT(*OFF)


JMHO.

I've thought for about 15 minutes whether to post this, or not...  I've said
same before, in nicer terms...  I wouldn't say these things, if I was
talking to the developers of the InfoCenter, but since that ain't likely to
be permitted I get frustrated...  (However, I DO realize this might get back
to them somehow..  So I apologize, in advance...)  This isn't a flame on the
InfoCenter team, but an old-fashioned butt-whuppin'.. and MHO of an easy way
to fix the problem:  Just set the bar higher...

Enlist the help of those who know where that bar should be set at...:
Forget the bells and whistles, and deliver an improved version of the
BookManager...


jt

| -----Original Message-----
| From: midrange-nontech-admin@midrange.com
| [mailto:midrange-nontech-admin@midrange.com]On Behalf Of Leif Svalgaard
| Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2001 7:06 PM
| To: midrange-nontech@midrange.com
| Subject: Re: VMS, etc. (was Proprietary Systems... from midrange-l)
|
|
| Of course at lot depends on the definition of "stable". To take your
| medical example, I think that "stable" there means "not getting any worse"
| or "unchanging". And "unchanging" and "evolving" are kind of opposites.
| Now, I agree that you can adapt in an *orderly* manner and that might
| be called stable; at least in the sense of "not getting any worse".
| But we have probably wrung out what there is to be said about this...
|
| ----- Original Message -----
| From: Jim Damato <jdamato@dollargeneral.com>
| To: <midrange-nontech@midrange.com>
| Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2001 5:32 PM
| Subject: RE: VMS, etc. (was Proprietary Systems... from midrange-l)
|
|
| > OK.  I'm not sure how to apply your response to my post.  I don't think
| that
| > the definition of stability in thermodynamics applies well to
| the field of
| > computer technology.  It's possible to have stable business computer
| systems
| > and still adapt and evolve.
| >
| > -Jim
| >
| > -----Original Message-----
| > From: Leif Svalgaard [mailto:leif@leif.org]
| > Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2001 3:25 PM
| > To: midrange-nontech@midrange.com
| > Subject: Re: VMS, etc. (was Proprietary Systems... from midrange-l)
| >
| >
| > I was quite serious. Evolving to me means adapting to new
| > situations while preserving what works. We all still have a
| > reptilian part of our brain, etc.
| >
| > ----- Original Message -----
| > From: Jim Damato <jdamato@dollargeneral.com>
| > To: <midrange-nontech@midrange.com>
| > Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2001 2:12 PM
| > Subject: RE: VMS, etc. (was Proprietary Systems... from midrange-l)
| >
| >
| > > >  Leif:
| > > >In a thermodynamical sense when something is stable it is also dead.
| > > >To be alive means to be evolving.
| > >
| > > So, those of us who aren't dead are unstable.  I'll go along
| with that.
| :)
| > >
| > > I'm all for evolution -- see?
| > > >  Jim:
| > > >VMS has roots in Unix, but with enhancement and growth
| > >
| > > In medicine a stable patient is one who is expected to survive.
| Stability
| > > can mean different things in different contexts.  A stable business
| > computer
| > > system is not a dead one.
| > >
| > > What I like about proprietary systems is compatibility.  Right now I'm
| > > struggling with a third party spooler for Unix that is not fully
| > compatible
| > > with either HP/UX or AIX, and which does not work on any one
| > implementation
| > > standard for Telnet.  I'm fighting with Oracle over a bug or WAD that
| does
| > > not allow us to read our data while we are updating it.  And
| don't ever
| > ask
| > > me to tell you about our experiences with marginally compatible "open
| > > storage" SAN solutions.
| > >
| > > I'm not sure how seriously I should take your response.
| You've used the
| > > word "evolving".  To me, evolution implies growth through
| eras -- where
| > > species persist and eventually fall as others rise.  I'd prefer my
| systems
| > > evolve from era to era than be in a perpetual, thermodynamic state of
| > flux.
| > >
| > > -Jim
| > >
| > > James P. Damato
| > > Manager - Technical Administration
| > > Dollar General Corporation
| > > <mailto:jdamato@dollargeneral.com>