Re: Is there a mainframe skills shortage?


"Alistair" <alistair@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1175529696.928149.135480@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I like the idea of sliming tea but couldn't put up with the 20 minute
wait.

Re Buff steak - as a pm you should remember that to ASSUME makes an
ASS out of U and ME. What did it taste like? (and don't say Buffalo).

When in Kathmandu I wasn't wearing my PM hat; it was more the
"mountaineering and looking for answers" hat... :-)

It was dark meat, surprisingly not tough, and tasted stronger than beef but
not as gamey as wild venison. I was perfectly good, and tasty.



Then we must agree to differ. Imagine how you would do in a foreign
language... would you be any less logical or have weaker arguments?


Fortunately, I don't have to imagine; each year I go to Le Mans and
renew my acquaintance with the French language and the tried and
trusted technique of speaking English slowly and loudly (why is it
that Britain conquered most of the world but England lost the half of
France that it owned?). Actually I try to use French when there and
find that comprehension and pronounciation are two major stumbling
blocks.


So, are your thought processes less logical when in Le Mans? :-)


But he did not post any comparative figures for other software/
hardware combinations so I am left none the wiser. I can, with
justification, point out that Adabas can handle a higher transaction
rate than DB2 but unless I post comparative figures DD and yourself
would joyfully rip my argument to pieces.

Not me. I have better things to do. I'd accept it as your opinion and
move
on.

Besides, I really don't care, as long as they both perform useful work.

Wrong attitude! You should care, if only from the point of view as to
who is going to support/maintain the package when you've moved on.

Alistair, I have worked with many DBMS (including your favourite ADABAS,
back in the days when it was one of the first Network model DBs (as opposed
to hierarchical or relational). I have never found one that was worthless. I
don't get passionate about software any more (except stuff I wrote myself,
of course... :-)) If it does the job and suits the budget, I'm fine with
it. If I am specifcally asked by a customer to evaluate specific DBMS, with
regard to their specific environment, then I do that and recommend without
fear or favour.

If we are talking about packages, I do the job they are paying me for. Part
of that may be to ensure there is ongoing support (could be third party,
could be in house, could be both) and that simply goes with the territory.
For what it's worth, I don't consider a project "finished" until it is safe
to move on.

How does that require attitude adjustment?
I
do charity work where I am redeveloping a CRM in MS Access BECAUSE the
database technology used in the existing package can not be developed
to provide new reporting facilities because nobody in the UK knows it.

Good for you. There is satisfaction in helping worthwhile causes.


Mid-sentence interruptions are considered rude

Sorry. :-)

by some people... (Not me, I
just find them off-putting...)

I think I heard this speech some time ago regarding BetaMax and VHS...

Good old Betamax. I worked in a shop where we sold an expensive
Betamax player with oil-damped ejection and a cheap clunky VHS. The
clunky VHS outsold the Betamax.

Yeah, life's a bitch, ain't it? :-) Seriously, sometimes the best product
just falls by the wayside, pushed out by the overwhelming marketing power of
an inferior competitor. At the tme, we get upset about the injustice of it,
but all the wailing and gnashing of teeth in the World, won't change it. I
remember being devastated when one place I was working threw out TASKMASTER
in favour of IMS/DC. TM was definitely the best TP monitor I've ever worked
with and light years ahead of IBM's offerings. But IBM had the marketing
clout (and the political ears of the right (uninformed) people), so we moved
to IMS/DC. Six months down the track I was just grateful that IMS/DC was
better than CICS...:-). (Later, I worked on CICS sites and realised it isn't
so bad...:-)) The fact is that all of them do the job, and that was what I
stated and what I meant. I really don't care about this any more. It is like
focussing entirely on the paintbrush and never doing the painting. A good
artist will make a good painting with ANY kind of brush, as long as it lays
down paint...



Let
it go. Unix has NOT taken over the World and even if it does, what's your
beef? If you intend to pay the mortgage off by application programming
(as
you said above) why would you care what OS is in use? It's not like you
have
to maintain it...

My beef extends from the fact that Unix is not a good operating
system, I have 5 months experience of it and can not get a job using
it.

How does your unfortunate inability to get a job with it, reflect on the
usefulness of the OS? (Are you thinking in French :-)?)

If you measure the worth of software purely by whether knowing it helps you
get a job, then it isn't me who requires attitude adjustment :-)


Well, you wisely didn't jump to a conclusion based on a sample of one.
I've
worked with quite a number over the years and the general trend has been
towards improvement. Some of them are not so good; some are outstanding,
exactly as those who came out of the Business or off the street without
the
benefit of College Education.


The CS grad in question was a joint CS and Mathematics. I suspect that
the Maths may have lead to his academic approach to problem resolution
(manana).




Oops, I should have read further... you HAVE drawn a conclusion on a
sample
of 1. Sad.

Gotcha! I shall take your further comments on board re the abilities
of CS grads and shall no longer be inately biaised against them. See,
something positive.

Excellent! If there can be a meeting of minds as disparate as ours, there is
still hope for the rest of the World... :-)


I would stress here that it isn't "wrong" to be uninformed; so long as
you
don't start criticising that which you are not informed about.

Sometimes I just think it isn't really that important. I generate heat by
posting here, when that is not my intention. In the big picture it is all
just computer programming... :-)

Pete.

Pete: you post and others may choose to comment. If we were so opposed
to everything that you said then we would send you to Coventry (not
that I would recommend that place to anyone).

Yes, I have been to Coventry. Good people, a modern cathedral (rebuilt after
the devastation of WWII), great shopping malls, and a lovely statue of Lady
Godiva... So, at least in my opinion, not all bad...

I don't mind people disagreeing with me; I don't mind people ignoring me (in
fact, that might be a very wise policy for some of the things I say... :-)).
I enjoy the interactions here and it does make some relief from some pretty
heavy stuff I am trying to assimilate at the moment, but I don't HAVE to
post here, so you won't hear me complaining about reactions to what I do
post. I just want to make it clear that I don't set out to wound, that's
all.

Pete.

Pete.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Is there a mainframe skills shortage?
    ... Besides, I really don't care, as long as they both perform useful work. ... Betamax player with oil-damped ejection and a cheap clunky VHS. ... If you intend to pay the mortgage off by application programming (as ... The CS grad in question was a joint CS and Mathematics. ...
    (comp.lang.cobol)
  • Re: ZW enables "real life" stalking
    ... >> gosh kenny - isn't he allowed to change his mind as more information became ... Well he made me care and now I have. ... inflict harm unto others with his Kookie FAQ of questions that no one ...
    (alt.support.chronic-pain)
  • Re: Beatles myths
    ... I might as well have gotten upset about someone ... Yeah, I must either be in love with her or paid off by her, causing me ... that I don't particularly care for her strongly one way or another. ... No, never mind all that. ...
    (rec.music.beatles)
  • Re: Scary goovax
    ... In your situation it is not surprising that you should consider ... considered as an option topping the partner you are having problems ... These thoughts can obviously enter your mind at a time when you ... people who care about you, I care about you, fer fuck's sake, you ...
    (uk.rec.sheds)
  • Re: Beatles myths
    ... attempted murder. ... I might as well have gotten upset about someone putting a booger in her hair. ... Never mind that I've already mentioned on multiple occasions the fact that I don't particularly care for her strongly one way or another. ... That full-scale, enthusiastic, Naziesque dehumanisation campaigns disgust and anger me on principle, and we could be talking about Pat Boone instead of Yoko for all I care. ...
    (rec.music.beatles)