RE: Missed the fact that a line was commented out...

Not everyone has that option.  Where I work opening the case of your pc
is punished by flogging for the first offense.  I managed to get more
memory because I have a good relationship with our ops manager who
handles computer equipment purchasing.  I'm not shy about asking.  The
official position is that mods to the pcs "void the warranty."  It may
be true--we bought them from IBM. 

I know the custom is that mechanics supply their own tools.  OTOH, my
wife has done drafting long enough to have put in a lot of time on the
board.  Her employer provided all the equipment including the expensive
stuff like the lettering pens and templates that were used to make
presentation slides before Power Point.  She has a very nice digital
caliper--inspection grade precise to better than .001".  The pcs and
workstations that they use to run the drafting software (Pro Engineer,
an incredible hog) are actually powerful enough to run it. 



-----Original Message-----
From: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bob Cozzi
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2005 12:39 PM
To: 'RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries'
Subject: RE: Missed the fact that a line was commented out...

Joel,
"Giving them a PC that..."
While you did not say it, this statement reminds me that many people in
our market space (and I'm not say you are this way) wait until the
employer "gives them" the thing they need. Whereas in many other IT
market spaces, the programmer will go out and pay for it themselves or
figure out a way to force the employer to get it for them.
It is very strange that people in our marketspace who are making a lot
of money, worry about $80 or $150 expense items related to their job. My
brother is a mechanic and has spent over $4000 in tools so he can do his
job better. He does not make as much as a good RPG programmer makes. But
I'll bet that most (all?) "good RPG programmers" haven't spent even $200
in there lifetime on things they needed to do their job.
People active on this list are usually the exceptions since this list is
very tiny compared to the market space as a whole.
At a client of mine where they all had PC's with 256Mb in them. A couple
programmers wanted to use CODE/400 and one wanted to try WDSc. But none
of them was willing to ask for more memory for the corporate-issued PC.
So I took them out and paid for their memory upgrades and we installed
them in their systems, unofficially. Cost me about $400 or so if I
remember right.
Then they offered to take me to lunch. When the bill came they said
"We'll get that." Then one of the co-workers said "Make sure to take the
receipt so we can turn it in." Their net-cost? Zero, their employer's
cost? About $45 for pizza for five.
So why couldn't those 4 people go out and pay $100 at the time for
memory for their own PCs that they use day in and day out? SO the
company gets to keep the memory if they ever leave, so what? While you
get to use it you get things done faster, can run WDSc or CODE/400 and
you get to go home to your family on time more often.
It is an interesting sociological phenomenon. I'm not saying this is a
wrong attitude, it is just different from many other environments. 

-Bob Cozzi
www.RPGxTools.com
If everything is under control, you are going too slow.
- Mario Andretti



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