I just had a few more comments before I start bowing out of this
thread. In the recent past I was sometimes critical towards IBM and
others as it relates to their efforts of getting people onto the
platform, and I should have instead been conveying what I believe they
are doing right. (ok, so I play the pessimist too much :-)
Some of the excellent efforts IBM has put forth to get people onto the
machine are as follows (many of which have already been mentioned in
this thread, but it warrants repeating):
IBM i Academic Initiative headed up by Linda Grigoliet (sp) - Great
effort at getting students in universities involved with the machine.
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/university/academicinitiative/
IBM Virtual Loaner Program - Great way to test the waters to see what
IBM i has to offer in a no-cost-to-me fashion. I have used this
offering for about 4yrs and can say it has helped me greatly in moving
IBM i related software forward (for both my benefit and IBM's).
www.ibm.com/systems/vlp
IBM ISV Development Lease Program from the Hardware Mall - Great way
for company to get a machine in-house at a reasonable expense (costs
KrengelTech about $175/month to lease our V6R1 520). This program has
been instrumental in KrengelTech being able to produce RPG-XML Suite
(www.rpg-xml.com) and also OpenRPGUI (www.OpenRPGUI.com).
www.ibm.com/systems/vlp
iDevCloud.com - Great way for educators to have access to a machine
that is fully loaded with licensed programs for teaching/learning
purposes, and also open source. This was IBM partnering with a
business partner and pulling many licensing strings to make it happen.
This is a good stepping stone and from the sounds of it there will
be more news on this front from Jim.
Am I missing any others that IBM offers or is part of?
Aaron Bartell
www.MowYourLawn.com/blog
www.OpenRPGUI.com
www.SoftwareSavesLives.com
midrange.com
