> 2. JCL may be a PITA to learn, but it's a fundamental > building block for the whole OS. Everything started in OS390 > begins with JCL or it's internal equivalent, including CICS, > TSO users, etc. Because work is structured this way (or > perhaps I should say structured at all), not only can batch > and on-line systems peacefully coexist, but the whole thing > can be - and is - orchestrated. The OS can also be tightly or > loosely coupled with other machines, so there is no upper > limit on "machine" size. The whole thing really is amazing > from the system programmer's point of view. > > Which is why I was NEVER tempted to be a system programmer!!! > I had no problem with System programmers making twice what we applications > programmers made -- it was such a royal PIA to be one...
Alas, a dying breed, for the scary reason that we weren't needed in large numbers anymore. Hardware-wise, those machines diagnose themselves, and SMP basically orchestrates everything. A lot of the early challenges are gone now. I suppose they've reached a point now where a lot of sysprogs are basically librarians. There's still some at the top who get to design things, but not that many. > That's why I LOVE VFP -- it's still the best RAD applications > development environment around... and why I HATE Windows I totally agree. I've been wishing for a long time that IBM would create/buy-out/whatever some variant on the VFP theme to run on their machines (and, of course, for their machines to get into our price range). Hasn't happened yet, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't. > (and probably wouldn't have a hell of a lot of fun with Linux either -- I > hate system programming!!) At the time, I really got into it, but now I like applications a whole lot more. > An operating system should just WORK around my needs instead > of forcing ME to work around it's needs... Agreed. > But, it's largely moot thanks to my retirement!! Programmers never retire <G> Bill > Cheers; > > Chet _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: ProFox@leafe.com Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
