Dave asks:

> This is not just a bluff.  We will stay on the 3000 for at least 2 years
>  after HPs wants, and are desperate to stay on even longer, but the fallback
>  position is to talk to IBM about about a possible iSeries (AS/400), and to
>  request enhancements like Cobol macros.
>
>  Meanwhile, can anyone give an informed evaulation of how an AS/400 stacks
up
>  against @nix as a machine to port to (for a single-platform Cobol/Image
shop
>  with small staff and a 21-year history of using every MPE/Cobol/Image trick
>  in the book)?

I've always said that if we were ever forced off of the HP3000, we'd move to
the AS/400 machines. However, saying that, one of the reasons that CSY gave
itself internally, arguing that it was time to kill the HP3000, were
consulting reports that they'd obtained saying that IBM has also been
suffering precipitous drops in AS/400 sales, particularly in the face of
Linux.

I have no idea if that's true, and even if it were, whether it will hold up
over the long term. Linux is definitely the flavor of the day, but flavors of
the day often hold their appeal for a period of time simply because so many
people know so little about them.

Wirt Atmar

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