I see this Board as a place where we can evangelize a bit so here goes: Mainframers spend most of their professional time with fellow mainframers. That is to be expected. We all know what this platform is and what it can do. But most of the world doesn’t. And it should (I am open to points to the contrary). This platform has enabled all of us to have good lives with compelling and enjoyable work. I view the mainframe philosophically. It can solve some of the world’s biggest business chal... moreI see this Board as a place where we can evangelize a bit so here goes: Mainframers spend most of their professional time with fellow mainframers. That is to be expected. We all know what this platform is and what it can do. But most of the world doesn’t. And it should (I am open to points to the contrary). This platform has enabled all of us to have good lives with compelling and enjoyable work. I view the mainframe philosophically. It can solve some of the world’s biggest business challenges. But its value is not limited to commerce. With the advent of Blockchain, AI, and IoT, it will have a major impact on the totality of humanity (lofty, huh?). Personally, I have seen knowledge of this platform change the lives of families for generations to come- hundreds of times over. To date most of my students have been first generation college students, many from poor, rural backgrounds. They don’t come from money. They don’t come from high status. Many of the folks from their hometowns don’t go anywhere but to jail or poverty. But they know JCL. And they know ISPF. And they know- wait for it…. REXX! And now many of them are technical leads at some of the biggest and richest companies on the planet. Mainframe did that. So spread the word, folks: the Next Big Thing is 50+ years young. Long live Big Iron!!!
Wayne Beavers
I once met a guy that was surprised to find out that REXX had been ported from Window to the mainframe. Clearly the mainframe world could try to make some of this clear, that some of what they run on a PC was originally from the mainframe.
