On 1/20/03, Charles Finley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>... using DB2 on the
>iSeries compares favorably to using IMAGE on an HP 3000.

This is, precisely, the whole point.  Why go through the
nightmare of migrating off MPE-IMAGE just to get (after a
lot of effort and expense and disruption) to something that
"compares favorably to using IMAGE on an HP 3000"?

I have gone through many changes in my life and I have
pursued them with gusto.  I have started FROM a situation
that I disliked (even despised) and then worked TOWARDS a
goal that I positively loved and that made the starting
position look pitifully pathetic, by a long shot.

But to spend my valuable time, energy, money, and other
scarce resources just to end up at a situation that is
"almost as good as" or that "compares favorably to" or
that is a "reasonable look-alike"?

Please note that I am speaking strictly about heavy-duty
OLTP.  I would not necessarily consider MPE-IMAGE to
play around with my digital multimedia material, because
the Mac does a superb job in this specialty :-)

More specifically:  We are looking for something (anything)
that will do what MPE-IMAGE does in terms of thousands of
concurrent users doing concurrent additions, deletions,
updates, queries, and so on.  With a reasonable budget
that includes hardware (dirt cheap nowadays, with the
notable exception of hp3000 hardware), software,
IT staff, Guru-like support staff, and so on.  Ideally,
of course, without the megabucks required to convert
superbly tuned software that already makes MPE-IMAGE
sing and dance in ways that make other platforms look
a bit sluggish (and/or remarkably expensive to operate).

Do I hear Amazon and Linux?  Fair enough, but please
look at the word "sluggish" above and please examine
Amazon's TOTAL cost of ownership.  The fact that they
reduced their expenses tremendously when they moved
from proprietary Unix to Linux just means that Linux
is less expensive than proprietary Unix.  Duh :-)
Would you like to have to pay for Amazon's IT staff,
though?  They have more than a couple of folks there
and they pay Red Hat a healthy sum for support and
integration of Linux material.  I had the chance to chat
with them about these not-so-subtle issues at a recent
LinuxWorld.

And, oh, by the way, Amazon's applications have nothing
to do with manufacturing, or with airline reservation
systems, or with any of the many specialized areas
where MPE-IMAGE shines.  This is, precisely, the whole
point.


Still searching,

   _______________
  |               |
  |               |
  |            r  |  Alfredo                     [log in to unmask]
  |          e    |                           http://www.adager.com
  |        g      |  F. Alfredo Rego
  |      a        |  Manager, R & D Labs
  |    d          |  Adager Corporation
  |  A            |  Sun Valley, Idaho 83353-3000            U.S.A.
  |               |
  |_______________|

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