Brian wrote,

>
> Back in the early to mid-90's I did some Cobol contract work
> at Universal
> Studios in L.A
>
> They used an AS400. I can honestly say that the HP3000, MPEiX
> etc etc was
> LIGHT YEARS AHEAD of anything on that AS400.
>
> The IBM 85 Cobol compiler was totally behind the times compared to the
> COB85XL compiler e.g no reference modification, e.g.
> field_name_a (1:6) on the AS400
> (groan).
>
> MPEiX was a far better OS than the OS on that AS400.
>
> No DBMS on that AS400, only the old antiquated ISAM files
> (which they called
> a data base management system). I almost committed heresy and
> treason when I
> told their out-dated IS
> manager that ISAM files are NOT a DBMS.

I'm afraid you are the one outdated now. The current incarnation of the
iSeries and OS/400 runs rings around MPE/iX. DB2 is a world-class RDBMS that
runs on mainframes, the iSeries, Unix, Linux and Windows. OS/400 supports
multiple logical partitions allowing you to run multiple copies of OS/400,
Linux, and soon, AIX on one physical box. With the integrated xServer, you
can even run and manage Windows apps from your iSeries. Java on the iSeries
is not something cooked up in a one man skunkworks project like it is on the
HP e3000, but an integral part of the iSeries environment. Furthermore, now
that HP has cancelled the HP e3000, OS/400 is the only operating system
designed for and targeted at the SMB IT environment.

The iSeries is everything the HP e3000 is and more. It is what the HP e3000
might have become had HP stopped investing in it in the early 1990's while
it pursued "open system".

>
> By the time that contract ended I had breathed a sigh of
> relief swearing
> never to work on that antiquated IBM machine again. (I have
> also worked on other
> bigger IBM clunker mainframes that run under CICS).
>
> The AS400 is about the same physical size as your average
> HP3000 but the
> HP3000 technology is way ahead of that archaic AS400. IBM
> came up with the AS400
> making it the same physical size as your average mini
> computer but still
> maintained the old IBM mainframe (software) mentality.
>

Do you mean things like reliability, availability and stability?

I will continue to work to see MPE survive in some fashion past 2006, but if
you are looking for a modern system designed for business (and e-business)
IT, the iSeries has over any Unix, Linux or Windows system.

John Burke

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