Re: Mono on IBM i - Porting Mono to AIX and IBM i

On 4/16/2019 11:24 PM, John Yeung wrote:

All I want is five applications written in .Net that I can drop onto my
IBM i that will make my business better - applications that are easier
to implement via .Net or simple unavailable elsewhere. THAT is what I
can use to sell the corner office on the initial expense of getting it
in-house.

I can't tell if by "application" you mean a specific piece of software
(like Rails or Apache POI) or a type of software (ERP system, Web
server). If it's something you "drop onto your IBM i" then wouldn't it
be something already implemented? Why would it matter how easy it is
to implement?

I want something, anything, that I can drop in.  I don't want to become a .Net developer, I want to be able to take advantage of the vast array of pre-written libraries that everyone is talking about.  All I want to know is why I would use .Net rather than the same things available in Python or Java.

And I'm not clear why you need to involve the corner office at all if
you are just concerned about *initial expense*. The initial expense is
pretty close to zero. You can have .NET installed on your i for no
direct monetary cost, and if you are given (or know where to look for)
instructions, it will just take maybe half an hour of your time, tops.
And most of that time is simply waiting for yum to trundle along and
do its thing. It's just a few minutes of "active" time.

I'm not looking for something to play with.  I've done that. Sure, I can install .Net, but for any development I also need all the accoutrements, from IDE to change management.  Now if it's libraries that I can use, then fantastic, that makes it much closer to the zero-cost point of entry you're talking about.

Honestly, since you insist on the angle of "how can this help *me*, in
*my* shop?" the answer MUST be: That depends on the needs, interests,
plans, and make-up of *your* shop.

I've asked very specifically for what would help my shop: pre-written libraries that would help make my existing RPG applications better.  I have no idea what those might be, which is the primary reason for my reticence.  Richard's answers don't make me any more sanguine.

You seem to already acknowledge that having the .NET option available
is a good thing for the platform, regardless of whether it helps *you*
in particular. And Richard has, somewhat surprisingly to me, already
conceded that there isn't a particularly compelling case to introduce
.NET to the i in *your* shop if you don't already have developers who
are using it elsewhere or are interested in using it on the i. So I
guess that really answers that. But since the cost is so low, there is
virtually no risk in trying it out either. And I think that is why
Richard was talking about ice cream. The cost of trying out .NET (and
Python and Node.js and the other RPM-based PASE tools) is not that
different from the cost of trying out various ice cream flavors. :)

It doesn't matter.  The cost of YAL (Yet Another Language) is not zero.  For one, if I'm the only one using it then I'm the one responsible for every nuance of its installation.  So there better be some real benefit to adding another language.  I thought someone would be able to list some, and all I hear is that it's great to have more options.

I've been around a long time.  Too many options are overrated.

Thanks again for your response!

You're welcome. I'm happy to talk about this stuff. I hope I'm not
coming across as purposely being difficult.

No, not at all.  But I seem to be singularly unable to get my question across.  It's much like my compiler email earlier where everyone was telling me my syntax was wrong and I was trying to explain that IT COMPILED.   In this case, I don't want to know why Mono is great for the long-term health of the IBM i, or how it will help me attract a new audience of programmers to the platform.  I just want to know what sort of things I could leverage tomorrow in an RPG program if I install Mono.

Anyway, I'm quite tired.  I really didn't think this would be so difficult a question.