On Fri, 9 Dec 2016 14:40:10 +0800, Timothy Sipples wrote: >>Bigendian Smalls wrote: >>there needs to be a free version of z/os > >Didn't anybody read the page that I linked to? There is, already. For up to >15 days.
15 days! I can do a lot with that! Did you read the limitations in the page that you linked to? AFAICT, you really can't do anything with that. See quote below. >Charles Mills wrote: >>What??? THIS is IBM's answer??? > >As a reminder, I do not speak for IBM. If you'd like *IBM's* answer, ask >IBM through an official channel. The web page you linked to is IBM speaking for IBM. And what it offers is near zero. >*My* answer, writing only for himself, is >to state a plain fact: free z/OS access is available, today, from IBM, for >up to 15 days. What can you actually do in the "guided" environment? >Scott Chapman wrote: >>I don't see anything there that says one can do real production business >work >>using z/OS, starting at $0. > >No, you don't. I answered Charles Mills's question, not some other question >that he didn't ask. And you did so ignoring the context of that question. It was asked in reply to Scott Chapman's comment that AWS offers a free trial of its cloud services. A trial that allows you to do real production work for 12 months, albeit with limited capacity. It allows someone to get something set up that can be useful to them and begin to service their customers. The IBM offering does not provide anything remotely similar. https://aws.amazon.com/free/ >I would point out that the cost to provide z/OS services, or any computing >services for that matter, is greater than zero, especially but not only for >"real production business work." If you'd like to suggest that any company >price its set of products and associated services below cost, it wouldn't >shock me if that company disagrees with your suggestion. Of course, Amazon knows that a customer will not be able to do much real production work on the free tier offering. And for a customer whose requirements are actually that small, after 12 months, it is no longer free. This is not unlike free trials in many other contexts. I am not surprised that Amazon offers this limited service at no charge. Sure, they lose money on the free trial, in the same sense that they or any other business loses money on advertising. >That said, IBM has priced z/OS (and associated middleware, tools, and >utilities) access at $0, for up to 15 days, per the terms and conditions >associated with that offering. The Master the Mainframe contest is another >example of $0 z/OS access. IBM provides *some* $0 z/OS access, already. It is not even remotely similar to what AWS offers. This is what you get for your free trial: <quote> You will use scripted exercises that you access remotely from your workstation over the Internet. Both the server and client resources are provided by IBM in the Sandbox infrastructure through this portal. The lab exercises will take you, step by step, through the process of accessing these resources and then accomplishing one or more learning tasks. All Sandbox users are encouraged to use client software virtual machines that you access remotely from your workstation. The remote access method supported is through Windows Remote Desktop, and does not require any software to be installed on your workstation. The number of images available concurrently is limited, and each session lasts a maximum of 5 days. If you are unsuccessful in obtaining a client image to use during a peak time, please be sure to try back later. </quote> >Charles Mills wrote: >>How does a smallish business get going on z/OS? (Answer: they don't.) > >Sure they do. Here's an example: > >https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtX0naUx6Qo Kenya power is not a "Smallish business." >John McKown wrote: >>But I'm still not likely to find a z13s at the mom & pop >>fast food place like I would a PC or two. Probably not even in a high >>priced law firm. > >Analogously you won't often find a MRI machine in an elementary school's >nurse's office. Straw man. There many businesses that could benefit from z/OS on a z13s, but they have no way of moving into that without considerable upfront expense. Perhaps IBM offers z/OS-based cloud computing at a reasonable cost of entry, but the page you referenced is not that. It wouldn't have to be the $0 that AWS starts at, but such a cost of entry for a limited capacity for a long enough period of time that someone could get something going would be a great way to expand the reach of the platform. -- Tom Marchant ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
