IBM i

Search400.com - Open Source on i

Today in my mail box I received the newsletter from the folks at Search400.com and this is what it said:

FROM THE EDITOR
Open source for i
[Leah Rosin, Associate Editor]

Last month I attended OSCON in Portland, Ore., and learned from Bernard Golden that open source utilization in the enterprise is on the rise. At the conference, IBM featured its free DB2 Express-C version of DB2 9. When I asked Rav Ahuja, the strategy manager of information management at IBM, whether this would work on i, he explained that it would if you run a Linux partition. All of this was a great primer on the implementation of open source and, specifically, Linux on i. And now the first of a three-part series of Linux on i is here.

Let us know what you think. And if you run or develop open source apps on a Linux partition on i, consider writing a tip or submitting a guest column.

RELATED INFORMATION:
> System i Blogger: Linux Foundation launches killer development tool
> System i Blogger: Getting started with Zend PHP

Firs I am humbled that they linked to my blog on ITKE, thank you Leah!, and second lets talk about this for a bit.

It’s all about the money is it not? I am pro open sourced dude, but let’s face it if your not making money or able to support your code writing habit then it’s all a wash? While the Linux community is best known for their OPEN projects, the IBM i has not seen this kind of energetic code writing.

There have been attempts at OPEN SOURCED projects for the IBM i over the years but it’s been scarce, and nothing out there that could change the face of a buisness. I would love to see an open sourced web site for all IBM i projects with many many active projects.

There should be CRM and ERP projects for the IBM i, and there just aren’t.Projects like this would do two things, drive people to contribute and wake up CRM and ERP software offerings to kick them in the tend bits so that they know they need to step up the code they are working on because there is a FREE open sourced equivilant that is coming and could replace them. It does create competition, even if it is frustrating.

I don’t see this being something that is going to happen anytime soon. The community does not lend itself to lots of after hours late night coding. For one the IBM i is not a platform you can just get at your local Best Buy and write some code for at home with your newly open i/OS. If that were the case I think we would see more OPEN projects.

I would still like to see IBM really rethink how they sell the smaller IBM i systems. I would love to be able to put down less that $2,000 USD and get and IBM i that I could work on, or maybe IBM takes a really large IBM i and places it in Rochester and lets you have a partition to write code on and stuff. That would cost them little to nothing but would foster community growth. They should offer it for FREE and more over allow any student in college a larger chunk of the machine than you would let me have, and IT professional. I can’t afford to have a new 520 at home, but I could afford to log into a partition that was FREE, then I could create a project, open source it on SorceForge and let the world help me build it and make it better. Sadly I don’t think IBM is that “hip” yet and they never will be.

If you are looking for IBM i Open Source Projects check these links:

Link :: Open Source for i

Link :: The iSeries-Toolkit

If you have a good project idea then let it be known! If you think IBM should build a sandbox for us all, say it. They are reading this blog and they do wonder what we are thinking. I would love to build a CRM package for the IBM i that is open sourced and free.  I am sure some of you out there have done it a thousand times but never like you wanted. Now is your chance.

Help/Systems acquires PowerTech

The Four Hundred is reporting that Help/Systems has acquired PowerTech, an large security firm and software developer, in a move that shows the IBM i space is still active and changing.

“The consolidation of the midrange continued last month when The PowerTech Group, a leading developer of i OS security software, was acquired by Help/Systems and Audax Group, the private equity group backing the i OS utility developer. Few details of the deal are being released, as the companies are privately held and therefore under no obligation to spill the nitty gritty. What is known is that PowerTech will continue to function as a completely independent entity.”

“By all indications, PowerTech has become a powerhouse of i OS security software this decade. Whereas many of its competitors had been acquired by large firms with nary a new product release to be heard of again, PowerTech’s 800 customers have been treated to a steady diet of new products and upgrades, integration with third-party products, the industry’s only i OS-focused conference, annual “state of security” reports, and numerous white papers, educational events, and Webinars. PowerTech customers could feel safe in the fact that PowerTech lived and breathed i OS security, and were active in the midrange community.”

Read More here at The Four Hundred

Search400.com - Linux for IBM i: Introducing Linux to IBM i people

Link :: Search400.com - Linux for IBM i: Introducing Linux to IBM i people

The IBM i is a great platform. Not many of you out there will argue that point. It’s solid, robust and very powerful. Part of that power is just that power or the hardware that we now call Power. The operating system (OS) is nothing unless it has rock-solid hardware to run on. So part of the IBM i’s stability is the hardware. Another fine example of a powerful OS that runs on Power is AIX. The problem is that not everything needs an IBM i or an AIX partition. Sometimes, you just need a file and print server or maybe a DNS or mail router. Of course you could do this all on Windows, but that gets really expensive and it does not run on Power. So, what do you do? Linux on Power: It’s easy, cheap and very powerful, much like its AIX cousin.

Forum Thread on System i Network - Zend PHP Getting Started

PHP on the IBM i is going to be huge and here is a good thread that might help you get started using PHP on your IBM i. Thanks to all who have contributed to the thread.

Forum Thread on System i Network - Zend PHP Getting Started

Practical Web Services on the System i - Elena Lowery

In this article I outline two ways of creating web services from existing System i programs. The first approach is to deploy RPG programs in the new IBM Integrated Web Services Server for i, and the second is to create web services in Rational Developer for System i for SOA Construction (RDi SOA). In addition to giving step-by-step instructions, I explain the benefits of each implementation method and provide hints on how to successfully deploy web services in a production environment.

System i Network :: Practical Web Services on the System i - Elena Lowery

Why is IBM still selling HATS and not pushing PHP?

So full disclosure, I am an SME for COMMON and I speak and present about Linux on IBM i. I have pretty strong ties to the PHP @ IBM group in that the other two SMEs are both IBMers who preach the word for PHP, and other open source inititives at IBM. I have also worked for SEAGULL Software which sells what used to be called JWalk, which is a GUI modernization tool for the IBM i.

I was a Sales Engineer and don’t think I ever lost a deal to HATS when I was selling software…..any whoooooo!

Evidently HATS is still being pushed by IBM and the Four Hundred weekly email just reinforces that IBM is still lost. They should be pushing PHP on HTTP on the IBM i, yet they are still pushing a product that was pathetic 10 years ago, and can’t be much better now. I would love to see it and pick it apart compared to a PHP based web application.

Let the comments begin.

IT Job Flexibillity - Josh Barr

Mr. Barr writes a great article about the current IT Jobs and how we handle them as IT folks. It’s an interesting read, please take some time, you  might find yourself in the article.

Link to Post

“The IT community is a bit different from others — not just because IT workers are sun-deprived and physically pale, but because many IT workers are rarely, truly off duty. When they’re not in the office, they’re still on call. Glitches, bugs, and crashes happen. Tweaking on time and under budget requires long hours.

“The biggest issue with IT arrangements is the hours,” says William DiMase, a computer support analyst who works for a company with more than 100 locations in the New York City metro area. DiMase reports that when he was an intern using the System i platform, “the need for support was on an on-call basis for network, server, and AS/400 issues.”"

Boring IBM i Week

I have not posted anything this week as I think it’s been a pretty boring week in IBM i land. So while other IBM I news people have the inside scoop and time to call every vendor I am all alone digging for scraps of really meaningless information about the IBM i.

There is a set of articles coming from me to be posted on Search400.com about Linux. You can find all kinds of information about Linux and how to get started in Linux, but I was writing it for the IBM i people out there. I wanted to give you a quick and dirty on getting started with Linux on POWER.

The IBM i or AS/400 birthday party has come and gone. IBM didn’t invite yours truly and I still to this day don’t know why.

System i Network recently posted an article in the monthly magazine about being an i evangelist and didn’t mention me either. They did however mention Trevor Perry, but you can’t not talk able being an evangelist and not mention him. I would have thought the same went for me, but since I have in the past been very vocal with the System i Network magazine I think they still, or at least it the only way I can explain it, hold a grudge about me criticizing their publication.

To set the record straight, I think the System i Network is by far the best thing in print right now. The have a great staff and great writers. They have turned the magazine around, the web site and a huge, never-ending supply of IBM I and now POWER information and I think they are poised to be apart of the larger POWER community that is coming. Good Luck to the System I News and Penton Media!

I will find something to post about I promise.

IBM i (AS/400) turns 20!

It was almost 20 years ago when I got into IT, and my first desktop PC was an IBM AS/400 e90…I think it cost $3 Million. I of course was sharing it with 700 other users, but what a great beast!

I just wanted to wish the IBM i (AS/400) a very Happy Birthday, next year we can all go out drinking!

Link to Chris Maxcer’s Blog about the Birthday and IBM 

-Oh I was not invited to the events in Rochester this week and to say I am hurt is an understatment. From the leading IBM i Blogger on the web to, some goofball at in Charlotte writting about technology. It’s a long fall!

Chris Maxcer - i and AIX: Not Exactly the Same on Power Systems

Chris makes an interesting observation - LINK

“There are still some differences in how IBM is rolling out its converged System i and System p server lineup — though it’s not so much the hardware that’s different as it is the availability of the operating system. In the IBM i world, we’d pretty much always rather be first, but is being first really that critical?”