I still use it as the main desktop OS on my primary box at home, for example. I have Linux on the firewall box and on my secondary desktop, but it's not where I live most of the time...
I also know a couple of others locally who still use it at home.
This OS-less machine trend is a good thing for the more technical user anyway, I think, regardless of the OS they use. I'd rather get the OS in a separate box and install it myself anyway, since that lets me organize the disk the way *I* want to organize it.:-) -- -Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
Many people are only exposed to small and midrange servers running Unix flavors, and they seem to assume that Unix is all there is in serverland outside Windows. Not so!! There are MANY other solutions in the mid-range and the high end which have little to do with Unix. Most colleges don't do mainframes, but we sure do in the business world. I'll take an OS/390 or OS2200 server over Unix anyday for capacity and stability.:-) -- -Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
I'm a 36-year-old mainframe programmer who admittedly loves playing with this kind of stuff and collecting useless tidbits of OS configuration trivia, but I find that quick searches of Usenet via search engines like DejaNews (http://www.dejanews.com/home_ps.shtml) have answered almost all of the questions I've encountered, at least in a Linux context. Not only is it possible to find threads of discussion about the topic you're interested in, but you can also obtain contact information -- many folks who answer questions on Usenet (like myself) are quite willing to answer questions via e-mail as well, and even if your specific question hasn't already been asked and answered, you might find a pointer to someone who knows the subject and can help you directly.
I know I'm sometimes guilty of becoming annoyed with the types of common beginner questions which flood comp.os.linux.* at times (like "will my Winmodem work with Linux?" [answer: no, not at this time], or "How do I start X at a higher bit depth?" [answer: "startx -- -bpp xx" where xx is the desired bit depth]), and one of the reasons for that annoyance is because I know that tools like DejaNews exist, and that I actually *used* such tools myself when I was starting to use Linux more seriously. DejaNews is a living meta-FAQ in many ways, and if more beginners were made aware of it up front, I think we'd see a lot less repetition and "noise questions" (VFAQs) flooding the forums on Usenet.
There are times when I'll even use DejaNews myself to answer someone else's question, and then let them know how I found the information.:-) -- -Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
...the fact that it requires a primary made it a BITCH for me to find room for it. I ended up installing it on a secondary box because my main box has no spare primary partitions at all. Overall, though, the FreeBSD installation software is pretty good. BTW, I agree about Jordon Hubbard. Very classy guy from what I've seen online. I know a number of Linux folks who could learn a thing or two from him in terms of how to advocate a given platform.:-) -- -Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
Very true... Big Unix boxes =! mainframes.
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Philosophies of IT
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· Score: 1
Although the distinctions between the two types of systems are becoming harder and harder to see in some ways, at least on the hardware side. But the difference in general attitude and programmer "culture" between the academic Unix community and the old-school corporate mainframe community is still pretty large, at least in my experience.
The Unix folks (at least around here) sometimes don't seem to take certain types of support issues very seriously, and support response times can be pitiful. And while C is a good language and all, other languages actually do exist. Really.:-) The environment I work in doesn't even HAVE a C compiler, and our application predates the C language anyway (I think the first implementation was on a Univac 1108 in 1966).
In our case (at least on the Unisys 2200 side of the fence where I work, since we have IBM big iron as well) it's OS2200, TIP, and UTS20-compatible terminals instead of the mythical mainframe GUI mentioned in the article, but I suspect the same general principles apply: Transaction-driven systems with text-based screens and very fast response times. -- -Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
Putting total and visible message counters a/o percentages would also give readers some idea of the S/N ratio in a given forum, which might also be interesting (entertaining?) information.
What I really would like to see is an option to distinctively mark all messages in a given forum based on my custom score threshold limit rather than physically removing them from my sight. Say coloring the subjects of good messages green, bad ones red, and neutral ones black, or perhaps using some sort of text indicator for lynx users.
That would allow me to see which messages are the "most worthwhile" and avoid things which are "bad", but it would still allow me to easily read a bad message if I have to in order to maintain the context in a given thread.
Just a thought from the peanut gallery... -- -Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
I don't think they support OS/2 as a client.
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VMWare Beta Release
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I wish they did. Running Warp 4 under Linux would be *too* cool.:-) Then I *could* use the WPS on a Linux box!!:-) -- -Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
Too bad/. can't enforce a 10 minute delay between the time an individual first reads an article and the time they can post a response to it. Maybe that'd get rid of some of the knee-jerk AC postings.:-) -- -Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
This has been your typical response, Brett...
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New Mozilla License
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...even when asked serious and (at least AFAICT) well-meaning questions by regular participants on the IWE fora.
Do you wonder, then, why so many of us are having a hard time taking you seriously in the context of open source software licensing discussions? -- -Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
It's a good show. I don't watch it as much as I used to, but now and then I still do. Good stuff!:-) -- -Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
I'm using Vector as my ISP, and the tech I talked to while setting things up on their end was quite helpful -- he knew the Red Hat 5.1 settings off the top of his head.:-)
To USWest's credit, they got my Cisco 675 to my place on time, they turned the service on when they said they would, and they didn't screw up my billing. Good stuff! -- -Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
Partition Magic has included a graphical DOS version of the utility since v1.x, and while I can't speak for v3.x or v4.x (I still use v2.x at home), that DOS version (on diskette) would be quite useful for Linux users. -- -Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
A lot of them are working on complex applications.
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Why Work Sucks
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I'm 36, and I'm still slightly under the average age (I would guess) at my current workplace. Certainly on my programming team here in the flight operations area for a major US airline.
Why? Because the mainframe applications we've developed in-house here over the past 30 years are relatively complex, and it takes a tremendous amount of time to grasp the reasoning behind what is going on. Not in terms of the technology, but in terms of the operational business rules around which the applications were written.
These aren't stupid slow COBOL applications that generate reams financial reports for some pointy hair somewhere. These are the transaction-based Fortran applications that do our aircraft load balancing and optimal takeoff weight/thrust calculations and flight plan generation and real-time flight tracking. Zillions of real-time data feeds between systems. I've been in this position for seven years (first two as a contractor), and I'm only just beginning to get a handle on this stuff.
Even in other areas we tend to have a lot of older people who have been here for 10, 15, or 20 years. I don't know if it's because airlines were early adopters of computer technology and we've just kept people over time, or if it's because of the stability of the company or what. Or maybe it's just an interesting industry to work in. -- -Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
Slashdot Mirror
I still use it as the main desktop OS on my primary box at home, for example. I have Linux on the firewall box and on my secondary desktop, but it's not where I live most of the time...
:-)
I also know a couple of others locally who still use it at home.
This OS-less machine trend is a good thing for the more technical user anyway, I think, regardless of the OS they use. I'd rather get the OS in a separate box and install it myself anyway, since that lets me organize the disk the way *I* want to organize it.
--
-Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
Many people are only exposed to small and midrange servers running Unix flavors, and they seem to assume that Unix is all there is in serverland outside Windows. Not so!! There are MANY other solutions in the mid-range and the high end which have little to do with Unix. Most colleges don't do mainframes, but we sure do in the business world. I'll take an OS/390 or OS2200 server over Unix anyday for capacity and stability. :-)
--
-Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
I'm a 36-year-old mainframe programmer who admittedly loves playing with this kind of stuff and collecting useless tidbits of OS configuration trivia, but I find that quick searches of Usenet via search engines like DejaNews (http://www.dejanews.com/home_ps.shtml) have answered almost all of the questions I've encountered, at least in a Linux context. Not only is it possible to find threads of discussion about the topic you're interested in, but you can also obtain contact information -- many folks who answer questions on Usenet (like myself) are quite willing to answer questions via e-mail as well, and even if your specific question hasn't already been asked and answered, you might find a pointer to someone who knows the subject and can help you directly.
:-)
I know I'm sometimes guilty of becoming annoyed with the types of common beginner questions which flood comp.os.linux.* at times (like "will my Winmodem work with Linux?" [answer: no, not at this time], or "How do I start X at a higher bit depth?" [answer: "startx -- -bpp xx" where xx is the desired bit depth]), and one of the reasons for that annoyance is because I know that tools like DejaNews exist, and that I actually *used* such tools myself when I was starting to use Linux more seriously. DejaNews is a living meta-FAQ in many ways, and if more beginners were made aware of it up front, I think we'd see a lot less repetition and "noise questions" (VFAQs) flooding the forums on Usenet.
There are times when I'll even use DejaNews myself to answer someone else's question, and then let them know how I found the information.
--
-Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
...the fact that it requires a primary made it a BITCH for me to find room for it. I ended up installing it on a secondary box because my main box has no spare primary partitions at all. Overall, though, the FreeBSD installation software is pretty good. :-)
BTW, I agree about Jordon Hubbard. Very classy guy from what I've seen online. I know a number of Linux folks who could learn a thing or two from him in terms of how to advocate a given platform.
--
-Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
Although the distinctions between the two types of systems are becoming harder and harder to see in some ways, at least on the hardware side. But the difference in general attitude and programmer "culture" between the academic Unix community and the old-school corporate mainframe community is still pretty large, at least in my experience.
:-) The environment I work in doesn't even HAVE a C compiler, and our application predates the C language anyway (I think the first implementation was on a Univac 1108 in 1966).
The Unix folks (at least around here) sometimes don't seem to take certain types of support issues very seriously, and support response times can be pitiful. And while C is a good language and all, other languages actually do exist. Really.
In our case (at least on the Unisys 2200 side of the fence where I work, since we have IBM big iron as well) it's OS2200, TIP, and UTS20-compatible terminals instead of the mythical mainframe GUI mentioned in the article, but I suspect the same general principles apply: Transaction-driven systems with text-based screens and very fast response times.
--
-Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
Putting total and visible message counters a/o percentages would also give readers some idea of the S/N ratio in a given forum, which might also be interesting (entertaining?) information.
What I really would like to see is an option to distinctively mark all messages in a given forum based on my custom score threshold limit rather than physically removing them from my sight. Say coloring the subjects of good messages green, bad ones red, and neutral ones black, or perhaps using some sort of text indicator for lynx users.
That would allow me to see which messages are the "most worthwhile" and avoid things which are "bad", but it would still allow me to easily read a bad message if I have to in order to maintain the context in a given thread.
Just a thought from the peanut gallery...
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-Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
I wish they did. Running Warp 4 under Linux would be *too* cool. :-) Then I *could* use the WPS on a Linux box!! :-)
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-Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
...Rob is justified in being a little smug. IMSNShO.
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-Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
Too bad /. can't enforce a 10 minute delay between the time an individual first reads an article and the time they can post a response to it. Maybe that'd get rid of some of the knee-jerk AC postings. :-)
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-Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, BeOS, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
...even when asked serious and (at least AFAICT) well-meaning questions by regular participants on the IWE fora.
Do you wonder, then, why so many of us are having a hard time taking you seriously in the context of open source software licensing discussions?
--
-Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
It's a good show. I don't watch it as much as I used to, but now and then I still do. Good stuff! :-)
--
-Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
I'm using Vector as my ISP, and the tech I talked to while setting things up on their end was quite helpful -- he knew the Red Hat 5.1 settings off the top of his head. :-)
To USWest's credit, they got my Cisco 675 to my place on time, they turned the service on when they said they would, and they didn't screw up my billing. Good stuff!
--
-Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
Partition Magic has included a graphical DOS version of the utility since v1.x, and while I can't speak for v3.x or v4.x (I still use v2.x at home), that DOS version (on diskette) would be quite useful for Linux users.
--
-Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)
I'm 36, and I'm still slightly under the average age (I would guess) at my current workplace. Certainly on my programming team here in the flight operations area for a major US airline.
Why? Because the mainframe applications we've developed in-house here over the past 30 years are relatively complex, and it takes a tremendous amount of time to grasp the reasoning behind what is going on. Not in terms of the technology, but in terms of the operational business rules around which the applications were written.
These aren't stupid slow COBOL applications that generate reams financial reports for some pointy hair somewhere. These are the transaction-based Fortran applications that do our aircraft load balancing and optimal takeoff weight/thrust calculations and flight plan generation and real-time flight tracking. Zillions of real-time data feeds between systems. I've been in this position for seven years (first two as a contractor), and I'm only just beginning to get a handle on this stuff.
Even in other areas we tend to have a lot of older people who have been here for 10, 15, or 20 years. I don't know if it's because airlines were early adopters of computer technology and we've just kept people over time, or if it's because of the stability of the company or what. Or maybe it's just an interesting industry to work in.
--
-Rich (OS/2, Linux, Mac, NT, Solaris, FreeBSD, and OS2200 user in Bloomington MN)