At 13:46 02.12.2002, Per Jessen wrote: >On Mon, 2 Dec 2002 04:57:23 -0600, Jay Maynard wrote: >>With other things, though, it's possible to get in cheap at the low end. >>There is no corresponding way to get in cheap here. > >Except - and I know I'm stretching this slightly - if all you want to do is > >1) be a radio-amateur, this is entirely within your reach. Almost > with out regard to financial means. >2) If all you want to do is write software, this is entirely > within your reach. Almost free. > >1a) if you want do more than chat, maybe experiment with microwave stuff, > or build your own from scratch, there are financial considerations. >2a) if you want to write software for OS390 or maybe a Cray, there are > financial considerations.
I don't agree with 2a. That implies somehow, that big and reliable applications can only run on OS390 or Cray, that's definitely not the case. IBM'ers tend to be too proud about GDPS and don't see (or know) the other possibilities to run redundant big sized applications. You are right: people will develop for Linux then, if they can't get a mainframe OS easily, but why is IBM whining then about diminishing mainframe business ? I don't care to much about z/OS (though it would be fun to run it on a PC as hobbyist), but if z/VM should be sold as Hypervisor for Linux/390, then there should be definitely a way, where people can try that at home if they like. Now try to sell Linux/390 on a z/Box to a service provider, who wants to run e.g. 40 servers. Nearly nobody wants z/VM, the "dinosaur operating system". 99% of their arguments go away immediately, when I can show them on the PC, how it works and how easy I can clone a Linux server. That's one of the reasons why I want to have z/VM on my laptop, many others have already been mentioned. /Herbert
