Re: power line (AS/400) article in computerworld

["Peter Dow (ML)" <maillist@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Steve,

I can't decide if you are deliberately undiplomatic or if you just 
aren't thinking about what you're saying, e.g. "Lukas's I always read 
because he actually works with the system..." implies no one else on the 
list "actually works with the system".  Riighhht, we just hang out here 
because we're all literature majors and just want to practice writing<g>.

Either way, you always manage to get a flurry of indignant emails and I 
usually learn something, although I have to say I have yet to put any of 
it to practical use.  Which brings me to my question -- exactly what 
kind of programming are you doing that /requires/ 64-byte pointers?  And 
what program could you write if you just had at least 11 characters for 
the object names?  Ok, ok, at least 4096 characters like we have in 
RPGLE?  Are you unable to write these programs now?  Or do you think 
it's a performance thing to have 64-byte pointers?  I'd think pointers 
that long would slow things down if they were used ubiquitously -- i.e. 
throughout the OS -- unless the hardware is modified to support them.

And why would you need pointers that large anyway?  2^512 = 1.3e+154 
according to MS Calculator or about 1.5 googols, so you could "list of 
the state of every particle at every measurable unit of time since the 
Big Bang" (wikipedia) and still have 1 x 10**14 or so addresses leftover.

Just curious.

*Peter Dow* /
Dow Software Services, Inc.
909 793-9050
pdow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:pdow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> /

Steve Richter wrote:
> relax Jack. All is posted in the spirit of improving the system and
> exploring interesting technical issues.
>
> I delete a lot of messages on this list automatically. Lukas's I
> always read because he actually works with the system and has
> interesting things to say.
>
>
>
> On 4/11/08, Jack Derham <derhamj@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>   
> > I would like to suggest that Mr.'s Beeler and Richer take their excessively
> > negative attitudes some where other then the Mid-Range Lists. I would
> > suggest some place that is reportedly very HOT so that its environment would
> > help them burn some of the arrogance out of their personalities.
> > Seriously,
> > Jack Derham
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> > [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bruce Vining
> > Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 4:35 PM
> > To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
> > Subject: Re: power line (AS/400) article in computerworld
> >
> > Steve,
> >
> >  In light of some of the notes that fly when you post on 16MB spaces and 10
> > character names, have you considered prefacing your wishes with:
> >
> >  " I realize that i5/OS with the terapace storage and data models supports
> > storage addressing simliar to other systems --  for instance memory
> > allocations of up to 2GB, the use of 8-byte integers as pointer values, etc;
> > that the IFS supports file/object names similiar to other systems -- for
> > instance a file name such as
> > '/ThisIsAFairlyLongNameWithALongExtension.ThoughPerhapsNotTooLong'; that a
> > given job (or even a careful individual program) can utilize both teraspace
> > and single level storage concurrently, etc. but I would like to see IBM
> > extend the traditional Single Leval Store and library system (which is
> > admittedly unique to this platform) to also incorporate the capabilities of
> > i5/OS teraspace and IFS.  This would represent an architectural capability
> > far beyond other platforms and help negate criticism in the marketplace."
> >
> >  Just a proposal.
> >
> >  Bruce
> >
> > Steve Richter <stephenrichter@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >  the spirit of the article and comments reads as an embrace of the
> > operating
> > system of the 1990s. The hardware people at IBM are doing world class work.
> > The software team is what is holding us back now. SLS is aged with its 16meg
> > segment limit and the inablility of pointers to stay valid between IPLs. ILE
> > has not been improved in 10 yrs. 10 char limit on object names is bad, Fix
> > it, ok.
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 9:29 PM, Mike Cunningham wrote:
> >
> >     
> > > http://blogs.computerworld.com/frankly_speaking_not_dead_yet
> > > --
> > >       
> > --
> > This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing list
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> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Bruce
> > Bruce Vining Services
> > 507-206-4178
> > --
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> > --
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> > at http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.
> >
> >
> >