There's always some people afraid of "change". Nothing can be done to "fix"
that.
I've been happily using IBM's mainframe Unix (for a lack of a better term)
since "OE" first came out. Ignorant of so-called "true" Unix, I was eager
to learn all I could about IBM's offering. Good stuff that keeps getting
better!
Guy Gardoit
z/OS Systems Programming
On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 5:41 AM, Steve Comstock <st...@trainersfriend.com>wrote:
> When I grew up in the mainframe world, UNIX was
> considered to be the enemy. But I was working for
> IBM, and UNIX products were competitors, so that's
> kind of an expected perspective.
>
> Today, z/OS provides a rich set of UNIX services,
> including HFS/zFS files, a shell, a UNIX kernel,
> and more, to supplement / complement the classic
> MVS facilities.
>
> People who grew up with UNIX seem to despise or
> denigrate z/OS UNIX as missing a lot of features or
> behaviors that they are used to. But those of us who
> grew up in the OS/360-and-successors world don't know
> what we're missing, so it all seems to be pretty
> handy as is. Of course, there's always something new
> in the next release.
>
> There has been a perception that UNIX is less secure
> than z/OS. But I think that is an old perception.
> And when you utilize z/OS UNIX, your primary security
> comes from z/OS security services (RACF, Top Secret,
> ACF2, and so on), so that applications using z/OS
> UNIX should be as secure as any other z/OS applications.
>
> Several people on the list talk about their manager's
> dislike, distrust, disdain for z/OS UNIX (for example,
> John McKown recently wrote, speaking of people at his
> installation that would be left if he were to lose his
> job: "They seem to regard UNIX on z/OS as an abomination.")
>
> I'd like to understand this visceral reaction, with an
> eye to seeing what can be done to moderate it down to at
> least a level of skepticism ("OK, what can this do for
> me?").
>
>
> Of course, I have an agenda in doing this: I've written
> a number of courses on using z/OS UNIX, and I'd like to
> see some interest in companies taking this training.
>
> I'm just finishing up a course on writing COBOL CGIs,
> and it seems to me that if IT management truly wants to
> keep costs down, they would look at using z/OS for
> web hosting.
>
> This can be done very inexpensively:
>
> * IBM provides two free HTTP servers, one
> comes automatically with z/OS, the other
> is free but must be ordered separately
>
> * Most installations already have a COBOL
> compiler for writing CGI code, so there's
> no additional cost for software and you
> have staff that already knows the language
>
> or you can write CGIs in Assembler (a
> less attractive option in most shops)
>
> * Your installation already has VSAM and
> probably some database product such as DB2,
> so there's no need for any additional
> software to serve up data
>
> * Although you don't need Java to do this,
> if you want to use Java facilities, IBM
> provides it at no charge
>
> You don't need WebSphere; you don't need Java.
> Just the free facilities available with your
> z/OS system and your current programming staff.
> But you do need to use at least some parts of
> z/OS UNIX.
>
> So what's the hangup about z/OS UNIX?
>
>
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
> -Steve Comstock
> The Trainer's Friend, Inc.
>
> 303-393-8716
> http://www.trainersfriend.com
>
> z/OS Application development made easier
> * Our classes include
> + How things work
> + Programming examples with realistic applications
> + Starter / skeleton code
> + Complete working programs
> + Useful utilities and subroutines
> + Tips and techniques
>
> ==> Check out the Trainer's Friend Store to purchase z/OS <==
> ==> application developer toolkits. Sample code in four <==
> ==> programming languages, JCL to Assemble or compile, <==
> ==> bind and test. <==
> ==> http://www.trainersfriend.com/TTFStore/index.html <==
>
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