The problem here is not IBM but the sadly misinformed and dangerously
callous college authorities.. Some good old "Satyagraha" is in order
here..
In the short term though, the best solution for you would be to opt
for an open source project using either an open source IBM technology
(say Eclipse)
Everyone feared IBM in the good old days, when guys in black suits and tie
would either make you go out of business or buy you off the hook. IBM guys
were considered evil big brothers, who were ruthless and sung company songs.
So anyways IBM seemed to have changed quite a lot in recent years and we
