Hi Jim :)
     Well... I can talk from experience (daily!) on this question :)

     I support Wisdom from Trinity Computer Services here at Blue Cross
Blue Shield of Oregon (Yes, Lee, I have not been moved to Regence... yet!
hehe).  This application is written in Clipper 5.3b and is natively DOS.
We import data from IBM Mainframes and HP 3000's using Clipper and FoxPro
programs.  We extract data from the Wisdom databases  via Visual Basic
programs and send it up to the IBM mainframe and from the mainframe the HP
3000's FTP the data over and then a COBOL program (I think) updates IMAGE
databases on the 3k with our DOS based data :)

    We have Novell and NT servers throughout our organizations and use lots
of other weird stuff!  The desktops are Windows 3.11, Windows 95,and NT.

     As I am sure Denys will point out ... DOS programs can run just fine
under Window 9x... and we don't really have too many problems here with the
app I support that is DOS based and runs from servers (we have quite a lot
of servers here as Lee Gunter can attribute too!) and each user runs the
EXE from there local primary server as we are spread out over 4 states
(Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Utah) for efficiency.

    The problems we have are all caused by either another application
(usually a Windows based one) changing the network drive mappings (bad,
very bad program!  no soup for you! hehehe) or PEBCAK (Problem Exists
Between Chair And Keyboard) ie user error :)

     We are exploring changing out this app for a Windows based one... as
that is the logical thing to do...BUT we are upgrading in about a week to
the latest and greatest version of the app and that is DOS based... their
NT based version still doesn't do what the DOS based one does :)

     I would sum up my view on this question by saying pick the application
that fits the client's function and needs ... then pick the hardware
platform and OS that the selected app requires.  This is what my prof's
taught me in school 16+ years ago and I believe it is still the right
answer :)

Art "now back to testing the new version :) " Bahrs

P.S. I spell checked this one... but I am not sure I trust Lotus Notes
spell checker... it says "HP 3000" is misspelled?  hmmm...... hehehe




Hello fellow listers!

We have a sister corporation that I provide IT oversight for that is
looking for a trucking application (handles dispatching of truck loads).
Since I could not find anything like this on the HP3000, the trucking
company manager is looking at some PC-based applications.  He had one
application demo'd on Tuesday and invited me to see it.  It was plain
from the start that the application was *not* Windows-based, and when
I asked the salesman, he confirmed that it was DOS-based, but "it runs
fine on Windows 95/98/NT".

My gut-level reaction was that we should not buy any application that
is supposed to run on a server and is DOS-based.  Is there any basis
for my feeling, other than FUD?  IOW, what do you think about buying
DOS-based apps at this stage of the PC's development?

Jim Phillips                            Manager of Information Systems
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]      Therm-O-Link, Inc.
Phone: (330) 527-2124                   P. O. Box 285
  Fax: (330) 527-2123                   Garrettsville, Ohio  44231