Re: open source rpg compiler

[Hans Boldt <boldt@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Bob cozzi wrote:
> True, but a bit further is still no where near what other platforms do.
> The reasons? How many AS/400 RPG developers have an RPG compiler at home so
> they can work on this stuff in the off-work/free time?  What? Maybe 20
> world-wide.  

You're right. There are fundamental differences between the iSeries 
community and the Linux/PC/workstation community. In the latter, 
software and hardware are largely commodity items, with prices 
largely subject to market pressures. In the case of software, that 
pressure has driven prices down to zero. (Some argue that 
open-source software is "socialism", but that's not true. Normal 
free-market principles are sufficient to explain the rise of 
open-source software.)

In the iSeries world, it is still possible to charge money for 
software, and generally, programmers are quite happy to pay for 
useful bits of software if it saves their employer money. So while 
that market still exists, it's perfectly reasonable for software 
developers to charge what the market will bear.

Here's an example to contrast the two communities. Let's say you 
want to issue an HTTP GET or POST request programmatically. You can 
buy a service program that can be called from your RPG IV program 
for a couple hundred dollars, and many programmers would consider it 
money well spent. In the Linux/PC/workstation community, one could 
get the same functionality from a Perl or Python program for free. 
(In the case of Perl, you have to download and install about 5 
packages. With Python, it's all there in the base class library.) In 
the Linux/PC/workstation world, competitive pressures have driven 
the cost of software down to the point of nothingness, as long as 
the consumer is willing to bear the costs of downloading and 
copying. Money can still be made (if desired), in the form of 
printed documentation, support, and training.

Ironically, even in the face of more competition, I don't see free 
market pressures driving the cost of iSeries software down to 
commodity levels any time soon. Take that HTTP request service 
program for example. If that current developer charges $239 for it, 
then another comes along and offers an equivalent service program 
for $99, will the former lower the price on his? Not necessarily. 
Consumers may well decide, even though the two products might be 
exactly the same, that the more expensive product is still better. 
We've all heard of cases where a company sells *more* of a software 
product after *raising* the price! (As an aside, a recent survey 
found that 44% of Americans believe that if they see more ads for a 
product that it is better!)

You're right about the cost of tools being a barrier. For years, I 
didn't do much hobby programming since the cost of the tools was 
always a few thousand dollars out of reach. And even when I had 
sufficient software, the hardware cost more than I was willing to 
spend (and vice versa). For me personally, that changed when I 
installed Linux on a home computer for the first time. At that time, 
not only was the hardware commodity priced, but the development 
tools were now extremely affordable too. Not having to justify a big 
capital expense up-front is another factor in the rise of 
open-source software.

Conclusion? Open-source in the Linux/PC/workstation community is 
primarily driven not by altruism but by free market principles. The 
same pressures are different in the iSeries community, where 
developers can still charge what the market will bear. It is still 
possible to justify open-source software in the iSeries community, 
but it's a much harder case to make.

Cheers! Hans