RE: "Many RPG programmers would like to be able to port their apps to other operating systems"...NOT

>Why would anyone want to port a working application
>from a stable OS to a black hole of uncertainty?

One of the first questions customers ask us is "what version on Unix does
your software run on?"  When we tell them it's IBM AS/400, they invariably
ask if there's a Unix port.  Very many companies have Unix-proficient IS
departments, and selling AS/400 is invariably difficult in that environment.
We have replaced exactly two Unix installations and lost dozens of potential
clients because we don't support Unix.

Our market does not look to Microsoft as a platform for their back-office
software, just for things like desktop and file server (shared spreadsheets
etc.)  But they do in fact see Unix as being just as reliable as the AS/400.
TCO is very close, so familiarity with their platform of choice makes the
sale.  In a place like that, the C-programming Unix guys can pooh pooh RPG
as being 30 year old technology not really suited to today's computing
needs.

Are we looking to port?  Writing an entirely new version in ANY language
(including RPG IV) is madness.  Evolution is an appropriate answer, but will
the core ever really run on a Unix system?  Doubtful, but we will
undoubtedly "embrace" Unix technology where it makes sense in middleware
servers and so forth.

RPG is a definite part of our long-term strategy, but that doesn't mean that
RPG will be seen at the desktop.

  --buck