On 1/31/2018 5:36 PM, Brian Parkins wrote:
On 1/31/2018 8:54 AM, Jim Oberholtzer wrote:
That was the argument for WSCDi back in the day. Bundle it and they
will
use it. Very few of us did. Now that RDi has its own revenue stream,
development on the product has increased exponentially and along with
it,
usage.
-snip-
1). WDSc was shipped on CD/DVD media.
-snip-
To make the situation more difficult, the AS/400 + SysOps folk could be
located in a different city/country to the developers. No chance of
getting hold of the WDSc CD's. In extreme cases, the SysOps function
was outsourced as well as remote. Absolutely no chance of getting the
install media.
True, true, true.
What has changed from then to now?
I don't need to worry about locating install media; I need to worry
about getting approval from The Powers That Be for the purchase. Have
we traded inept/uncaring Sysops for inept/uncaring managers? Is there a
practical difference?
2). As has already been pointed out, at the time we needed some serious,
high-spec. kit to run WDSc.
-snip
involved. Check the WDSc archives; for example, check out Buck's
comments back in 2003:
https://archive.midrange.com/wdsci-l/200208/msg00079.html
Love the walk down memory lane! That whole thread is interesting,
especially the part where I describe the project I was on:
'Essentially, it's a huge project. Way beyond what most people are
doing. There are 5000 displays, 65000 warnings 25000 errors, 180000 JSP
files and classes, 190meg WAR file. Big log files, big XML files, many
subdirectories. It's bigger than anything else I have seen posted in a
public forum. There may be some larger WebFacing projects, but I have
an open PMR (my second) due to the size of this one.
I don't care about the start-up time especially since the conversion
time is so much better.'
https://archive.midrange.com/wdsci-l/200208/msg00083.html
I wasn't editing onsie-twosie RPG programs. I was Webfacing a massive
Synon application. Yeah, I needed a bigger PC. And a bigger iSeries.
But don't forget the further context: I have been using Code/400, WDSc,
et al since the OS/2 days, and for a full decade on what most would
consider underpowered PCs. Let me pound that nail again: USING the IDE
instead of SEU. Every day, every program, every time. I always, always
worked for small companies. Not overflowing with milk and honey and
cash. I used the IDE, my colleagues did not. Why? Spoiler: It was not
the PC.
More recently Buck asked,
"If we go back through the multiple discussions that have occurred here
and tot up the various reasons for non-adoption, what has changed to
alter the situation?"
I suggest the biggest changes have been the shifts in awareness,
attitude and availability. The product has been around long enough for a
majority of developers to know of it, want to use it and have access to
trial it.
They are indeed more aware of RDi, and yet they _still_ don't trial it.
Probably because it's less available after the trial period because
getting Someone to sign a check is more difficult than pestering the
Sysop to put the CDs in interoffice mail.
In my experience, the Big Obstacle now is convincing those who
hold the purse-strings to cough up the funds.
Could be. I told my current boss I would look for other work if RDi was
not available to me. And I absolutely mean it. We do have some
influence on the purchasing decisions. Maybe not a lot, but the more we
exercise our voices, the more likely we'll be heard.
I find that RDi now
suffers a (perceived) cost issue - not with the hardware, but with the
software itself. The suggestion of an RDi Lite might be one way to get
around the problem.
You might be right. IBM have tried everything else.
Or have they?
What would happen if IBM heaved SEU into the same bit bucket as
OfficeVision? [1] Would we be debating RDi Lite, or 'best training video'?
We developers don't need RDi-lite. We developers are trying to solve a
problem that IBM have created and sustained all by themselves. A
problem they could solve overnight if the Right People wanted to. None
of those Important People read this list, so here I am tilting at
windmills again. I'll stop now.
I love and admire and deeply appreciate all my RDi brothers and sisters.
Thank you for talking with me; I am certainly the better for it.
[1] Let IBM keep delivering SEU on the system, but require a call to
Support to get a temporary key to use it for 24 hours. Every 24 hours,
you need a new key. No automation. No email. Phone only. Manually
type in the key. One key per seat. Then people will have an
'emergency' editor if they need one more sophisticated <cough> than the
already free EDTF.
midrange.com
