IBM i (OS/400) the Database Operating System
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IBM i (OS/400) the Database Operating System
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Re: IBM i (OS/400) the Database Operating System
#2IBM i was k8s before k8s, with fewer yaml files and better backwards compat
Some of my first exposure to enterprise IT was via the AS/400 and served as a fantastic basis for the cloud stack and agents of today.
Re: IBM i (OS/400) the Database Operating System
#3IBM i was k8s before k8s, with fewer yaml files and better backwards compat Some of my first exposure to enterprise IT was via the AS/400 and served as a fantastic basis for the cloud stack and agents of today.
We live in the shattered remains, badly reconstructed, of what a true operating system could be - we have some of the pieces (zfs, k8s, virtualization, scaling, failover, nixos, qubes) but imagine it all put together, orchestrated, carefully documented and tested by immense number of engineers. Ah, what could have been.
Re: IBM i (OS/400) the Database Operating System
#4IBM i was k8s before k8s, with fewer yaml files and better backwards compat Some of my first exposure to enterprise IT was via the AS/400 and served as a fantastic basis for the cloud stack and agents of today.
We live in the shattered remains, badly reconstructed, of what a true operating system could be - we have some of the pieces (zfs, k8s, virtualization, scaling, failover, nixos, qubes) but imagine it all put together, orchestrated, carefully documented and tested by immense number of engineers. Ah, what could have been.
The older I get, the more compelling the IBM universe seems.
Re: IBM i (OS/400) the Database Operating System
#5IBM i was k8s before k8s, with fewer yaml files and better backwards compat Some of my first exposure to enterprise IT was via the AS/400 and served as a fantastic basis for the cloud stack and agents of today.
We live in the shattered remains, badly reconstructed, of what a true operating system could be - we have some of the pieces (zfs, k8s, virtualization, scaling, failover, nixos, qubes) but imagine it all put together, orchestrated, carefully documented and tested by immense number of engineers. Ah, what could have been.
This is what it feels like to look in at Linux from the outside as a Windows admin used to corporate-enforced consistency.
Sure, Microsoft has stumbled a bit recently, but around the 2010s it was a glorious era of PowerShell and Windows Server releases that were still improving.
Re: IBM i (OS/400) the Database Operating System
#6> Here we reach a point that is simultaneously the platform’s greatest advantage and heaviest burden. Due to such deep integration with dedicated and expensive hardware, IBM i is an “elite” system, in the less positive sense. A mere mortal, computer science student, or enthusiast has no chance to “touch” this system in the comfort of their home. You cannot download an ISO image from the internet, install it on a virtual machine in VirtualBox, or run it on your laptop. The barrier to entry is set at the price level of an IBM Power server, which effectively cuts off the supply of “fresh blood” and makes knowledge of this fascinating architecture passed down almost like guild knowledge, only within large organizations.
I took a course about these back in college. I thought it would be mind-expanding to see how computing could be outside of conventional Windows/Unix/Linux inspired environments, and use something with a very different design. The instructor had a desktop of one of these in his office. I remember logging into an official IBM educational system with a terminal emulator for an assignment.
Unfortunately, the instructor left about a month in, and I switched to a course involving UML modeling for programming Lego Mindstorm robots. Being hands-on with Mindstorms was cool, but I wonder what could have been had I finished the other course.
Re: IBM i (OS/400) the Database Operating System
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
We live in the shattered remains, badly reconstructed, of what a true operating system could be - we have some of the pieces (zfs, k8s, virtualization, scaling, failover, nixos, qubes) but imagine it all put together, orchestrated, carefully documented and tested by immense number of engineers. Ah, what could have been.
This is what it feels like to look in at Linux from the outside as a Windows admin used to corporate-enforced consistency. Sure, Microsoft has stumbled a bit recently, but around the 2010s it was a glorious era of PowerShell and Windows Server releases that were still improving.
I remember being quite young and proud that I had built something using Samba and Kerberos that mimicked an NT domain controller, and how powerful it was for our little LAN in the dorm, and why would anyone pay M$ for this, and then barely a few years later using small business server and being like "oh, that's why".
Re: IBM i (OS/400) the Database Operating System
#8I'd recommend people read "Inside the AS400" by Frank G. Soltis, as the concepts behind the OS are quite strange and unlike anything else I've ever seen. Unfortunately paper copies are pretty expensive, but there's a high quality PDF floating around on Bittorrent.
Re: IBM i (OS/400) the Database Operating System
#9IBM i was k8s before k8s, with fewer yaml files and better backwards compat Some of my first exposure to enterprise IT was via the AS/400 and served as a fantastic basis for the cloud stack and agents of today.
We live in the shattered remains, badly reconstructed, of what a true operating system could be - we have some of the pieces (zfs, k8s, virtualization, scaling, failover, nixos, qubes) but imagine it all put together, orchestrated, carefully documented and tested by immense number of engineers. Ah, what could have been.
The problem is license costs. IBM makes a great system but almost all their customers have been working hard to replace it, not because of issues with the quality but the high license costs.
Re: IBM i (OS/400) the Database Operating System
#10> Here we reach a point that is simultaneously the platform’s greatest advantage and heaviest burden. Due to such deep integration with dedicated and expensive hardware, IBM i is an “elite” system, in the less positive sense. A mere mortal, computer science student, or enthusiast has no chance to “touch” this system in the comfort of their home. You cannot download an ISO image from the internet, install it on a virt…
Amusingly, however - IBM did produce - or worked on - a Laptop AS/400, based on PowerPC for purely internal use. I believe it was designed for sales/marketing types to take on the road for demos