i5/OS

The System i five-layer cake: Yum

IBM i Chief Architect Steve Will has a post describing the five integral layers of the System i operating system, formerly called i5/OS. They are:

1. Integrated Middleware
2. “The” Operating System
3. Technology Independent Machine Interface
4. Licensed Internal Code
5. Hypervisor

Will sums it up at the end:

In summary, the robust IBM i operating system is flexible and long-lived largely due to this layered architecture. When we talk about IBM i, we’re talking about all of these layers in combination. I hope this brief introduction helps you understand the value that comes to you when you run IBM i, and why the IBM i development team continues to work hard to bring you this great integrated operating system.

Bob Cancilla on the future of System i

System i fan but realist Bob Cancilla, who runs the i-Nsider blog that has stirred the System i masses as of late, had this to say about the future of the platform while talking to IT Jungle:

“My points are not about the value or the quality of IBM i–the OS. This is about IBM’s commitment to the system. IBM is simply not investing in the OS or products related to or running on the OS. No one is selling IBM i, and a business without new customers is a business that is dying. The IBM i OS is gradually fading away because IBM is not selling it. Since there is no longer an organization to sell IBM i, there can be no turn around or return to prominence. It will simply continue to decline in users and will most definitely be dropped by IBM when the revenue reaches a point where it is no longer feasible to continue supporting it.”

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