Re: Future of RPG was: Open Access for RPG

[Albert York <alfromme@xxxxxxxxx>]

It goes back to the fact that RPG isn't a sexy name and younger people
confuse ti with role playing games. We need a new name that reflects
what RPG is today. Perhaps IBOL (Iseries business oriented language)
pronounced 'eyeball'.

Albert


On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 3:33 PM, Joe Pluta <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Pete Helgren wrote:
> >   There are really two issues at the heart of this:
> >
> > 1.    Can we do anything to get the over 50 (40?) crowd to embrace the
> > more modern development techniques that RPG (and IBM i) has made available?
> > 2.    Can we do anything to compel the under 30 crowd to give RPG (and
> > IBM i) a try a see what a superior business language it is?
> >
> > #1 - I think that is a losing battle.  So many folks have checked out in
> > the i/RPG world.
> >
> > #2 - Great potential.  Trevor pushing to get the YiPs going in Common
> > and the "pick up and run" attitude of guys like Justen and Brian that
> > are working closely with IBM (Steve Will) to establish the
> > YoungiProfessionals.com site and push for more "young" folks to get
> > involved in the "i" world, all of this has borne some fruit.
> >
> > I'd love to hear if there are any community things that can be done to
> > promote the issue raised by #2.  Common gave birth to the YiPs and they
> > are moving forward on their own with the support of IBM and Common.
> > What else can be done?
>
> Nice analysis.  The real problem is that IBM isn't promoting RPG.
> That's the root.  The secondary effect of a lack of jobs leads to the
> tertiary effects of no curriculum and no internships and thus no reason
> for college kids to invest time.  The lack of an open source alternative
> tunes out those who like and might be tempted to give it a try.
>
> The best option is still to promote RPG as a database accelerator
> language and make it a standard option on high-powered IBM"business
> logic servers" that speak to the outside world using web services and
> ODBC.  You provide simple tools to allow the development of business
> rules in DB2 and then use RPG as the nitro under the hood when you need
> real performance.
>
> They were this/close with the blade, but as usual since the i is not a
> services revenue-generator, there's no good reason to push it.  Silly,
> really, because if IBM created a demand for RPG they'd own the
> consulting and education market.
>
> Joe
>
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