On Friday, 03/18/2016 at 01:18 GMT, "Nix, Robert P." <nix.rob...@mayo.edu> wrote: > There needs to be wider acceptance within the software vendor community > for Linux on z (and / or Linux on ARM, Linux on PPC, ?, Linux on things > beyond x86). The problem is that the vendors can go to HP, or Best Buy, > and buy an x86, but they have to work to get an ARM or a PPC, or a Z. Most > aren¹t willing to make the effort to collect these platforms, and aren¹t > willing to invest in a Z system at all simply to test their product.
IBM offers ISVs access to z Systems for that purpose, and there's RDz. PWD members also have access to zPDT. For porting, there's the Chiphopper program. There's no point in buying a z machine unless the financials make sense. And as far as Linux is concerned, Hercules is a possibility, but since it doesn't have the IBM seal of approval, it still represents a certain amount of risk when the software hits a real z box. I would like to see a consortium of companies that use mainframes work together to lobby vendors for z support, letting the vendor see a larger audience (pot o' gold). That might be how they justify the RDz or PWD paths. But rewarding a company for its x86-only behavior by buying from them just reinforces that behavior. "What you permit, you promote." Alan Altmark Senior Managing z/VM and Linux Consultant Lab Services System z Delivery Practice IBM Systems & Technology Group ibm.com/systems/services/labservices office: 607.429.3323 mobile; 607.321.7556 alan_altm...@us.ibm.com IBM Endicott ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@vm.marist.edu with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information on Linux on System z, visit http://wiki.linuxvm.org/
