RE: /FREE RPG compiler errors

> From: Bob Cagle
>
> I have made an observation here, but it appears that most of the members
> of this mailing list are the programmers who are not just willing, but
> desire to push our own abilities.  I believe this to be a *must have*
> skill to achieve longevity in our chosen careers as RPG professionals.
> Learning, utilizing, and becoming expert at ILE RPGIV, including /free,
> is a part of this process.

This is comment that absolutely KILLS me.  <ROTFLMAO>

By this you are implying that my dislike of free-form RPG is due to my lack
of desire to push my own abilities, or to push the envelope of programming.
That I perhaps am unable to assimilate the new format.  That I am, in fact,
afraid to learn new things.

If so, you might be a teeny bit off target with that implication.  This may
sound self-serving, but I've got a reasonably impressive resume when it
comes to new technology.  Among the things I have developed or co-developed:
the first standalone asynchronous communications device for the S/3X family,
the first commercial client/server application on the S/38, the first
multi-platform graphical applications using OS/2 and the AS/400, the most
successful automatic correction of Y2K bugs in RPG, the first commercial
Java-based application on the AS/400 and my latest, the automatic conversion
of 5250 applications to HTML.

I don't just write JavaServer Pages - I write code that writes JSPs.  So
it's not that I don't push my own abilities.  It's just that not every new
technology is worth it.  I give you Enterprise JavaBeans as a perfect
example.  EJB is a bust for just about anything short of a complete
application rewrite.  Yet a year or so ago it was the holy grail.  Right
now, there is a vocal minority pushing free-form, yet it can't even properly
handle SQL.  So, for me, the jury is out, and it ain't because I'm afraid of
change.  It's because not all change is good, and until something is proven,
it's not a *must have*.

One last point, as far as the fine folks in Toronto have said so far, it is
my understanding that free-form is meant to be an "alternate", not a
"replacement", to RPG IV, at least for the foreseeable future.  I may be
wrong in that.  I'd like to hear that particular comment from Barbara or
Hans.

Anyway, it's opinion at this point.  But I'd appreciate you not getting out
the walkers for those of us who don't jump on every latest buzzword.  Maybe
because we're older we don't embrace every passing fashion.  Instead, we
conserve our energy for the RIGHT new technologies <grin>.

Joe