[Discussion] [Linux] Starting the move to MAC

[Carl Gehr]

Hi, Doug... [Comments inserted below...]

=-=-=-=-=-=-= In Reply to Your ORIGINAL MESSAGE =-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: "Douglas Clark" <clark454 at comcast.net>
To:   "POSSI Discussion List" <discussion at lists.possi.org>
cc:   
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:31:51 -0700 (MST)
Subject: Re: [Discussion] [Linux] Starting the move to MAC

>Carl,
>
>Allow me to suggest eComStation.  It has all the tools you need, and
>is still light years ahead of Linux in some rather important areas,
>such as inter-application communications (DDE, OLE in WinOS2 to name
>some examples), and plays very nicely with IBM mainframes.

I have been an eCS user since the beginning.  In fact, when the early,
"Would you buy... and... how many?..."  I signed up for the three
licenses I currently have.  I have two systems with 2.0 RC2 and one
with 2.0 RC5 running as [almost] the only systems.  [My business
partner, one of the RC2s, insists on running XP for some 'toys' that
she has.]

My problem is three fold:
1)  I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever see a 2.0 GA.  And,
    if we do, I'm concerned that it will be so far out of date
    compared to the rest of the world because of the cutoff
    of new development that we'll have to wait another four
    years to catch up to 2009.
2)  I have been having serious stability problems in the last
    several months, even though I've made no changes to either of
    the RC2 systems since last August, and the RC5 was built
    fresh and new back in September and not changed, other than
    a SeaMonkey update for the security changes.
3)  The WiFi connection has been very iffy [part of #2], except
    that it has been requiring a reboot several times a day
    to get the connection back.  Again, no changes to the AP,
    to the software in months.  I even had IBM/Lenovo come out
    and replace the WiFi card and then the system board. No
    improvement.  I really thought it was hardware until then,
    because the WiFi was even a little shaky with Linux and
    when I was using other WiFi networks away from home.  eCS
    has just been so much worse, I'm back thinking it is eCS.

>Comments on other posts here:
>
>>I've been told that the big thing in this next update [in Ubuntu] is
>>to improve the boot speed.  Supposedly, it will be less than a minute
>>from power on to a ready to use desktop.
>
>My boot up time with ECS on a thinkpad T43P is 70 seconds from power
>on to desktop ready.  10 seconds of that is the machine going through
>startup (i.e.  from power up to apperance of boot manager screen).  Of
>course part of the bootup time is dependent on drivers being loaded,
>DHCP addresses being obtained, etc.

I guess I was too conservative with my recall.  It looks like their
goal is actually "25 seconds on a netbook."

>>I would log onto the client's mainframe from OS/2 and upload and
>>download files and code etc.  I had an ISPF version (SPF/PC?) 
>>running on OS/2 and confess that I miss some of its editing features.

We use ISPF on TSO and SPF/PC for OS/2.

Our product is in two major parts.  One a very large Assembler piece
and the other is a couple of dozen COBOL and PL/I programs.  All
development is done on eCS.  All testing of the COBOL and PL/I pieces
uses the IBM OS/2 compilers, after which a final test on z/OS is done. 
Almost never a change to the code due to the final z/OS test.


>Bob - you may not be aware of LxPM, the editor included in VisualAge
>C++ (versions 3 and 4) which can be configured to act like SPF, i.e.
>you can "turn on" line numbers for a file and enter SPF line or block
>commands - M C D MM CC DD, etc.  - in the line number area.  And still
>use the mouse and other more "modern" commands at the same time.  It
>also outputs messages as readonly messagelines in the text, just like
>SPF.  Editor macros can be written in Rexx or C.
>
>
>>I don't know first hand, but one of the guys in what used to be the
>>Cincinnati OS/2 User Group is very much into this.  He works for 
>>Miami Univ., so he seems to have a lot of time to play.  He says
>>there are dramatic differences in the speed of various USB devices,
>>even when they are all 2.0.
>
>There are also dramatic differences in compatiblity between various
>USB devices, even when they are all 2.0.  This includes media and
>readers.  I have SD readers which are recognized when plugged directly
>into a USB port on a machine and not recognized when they are plugged
>into a hub connected to the same port on the same machine.  I have SD
>cards which can be read in one USB card reader and not in another card
>reader.
>
>>someone should still a fork in ecs. It is done. Nothing is happening in OS/2.
>
>On the contrary.  As just one example I am finishing up a new WPS
>WinOS2 program object to fix that annoying problem of some WinOS2
>applications not terminating completely when the application is
>closed.  (I kept waiting for someone else to do it but finally decided
>I would have to do it myself.)  There are all sorts of other things
>happening in the ECS world.

I also disagree that nothing is happening with eCS.  I've already
stated my problems and concerns.


>>I'm "multi platform" too.  I still have/use eCS on a dedicated
>>desktop, my laptop, and dual boot the virus and various forms of 
>>linux on yet another desktop.  To me it's not one's better than the
>>other, it comes down to the best tool for the job.
>
>I agree.  There will probably never be a single operating system which
>does everything.  If there were all the others would disappear.  Some
>of the things ECS does very very well will probably never be
>reproduced by another operating system.  On the other hand ECS never
>will be a game player platform, it will never be a multimedia
>platform, and it never was even from the very beginning.
>

I am currently a pure eCS <==> z/OS user.  My TPad came with XP about
two years ago.  Booted to XP only long enough to register it and plan
the repartitioning of the HD; squeezing XP down to about 20Gig, the
rest is for eCS, with a small amount of free space that I hope to use
for testing Ubuntu.

Thanks for all the insight!
Carl



><<snip>>

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