As a safe haven, MVS seems to be a mixed bag. While I am grateful that we will have a new H30 [manufactured in the same plant in Poughkeepsie (or however it's spelled), New York as the new line of AS/400s just now coming out], it does appear that budget cutbacks and purchased systems will leave us with only three to five years of career left on OS/390 - zos. Everything but Linux is incredibly expensive, including, but not restricted to DB2, CICS, and a whole host of expensive tools, which--like FileAid--are excellent, but maintenance costs add up to make owning an IBM out of the reach of a smaller firm or a governmental agency. While we have an AS/400, it is wholley maintained by the vendor of the software package, and, it seems, that more and more businesses are going this route. The opportunity would seem to be Linux and Linux administration should be fairly hot with the growth of open systems surpassing the supply of qualified people to maintain them. However, there's no really safe bet and in the meantime, I'm going to spend some more time getting my second book out: "It's Not Your Fault, but You'll Suffer Anyway". * To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, * * etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *