REXX losing ground? 1

[Truusvlugindewind]

It's all about REXX on the mainframe on this forum isn't it? It used to be a SAA language for all platforms. I've coded REXX on OS/2 and I remember when you installed DB/2 on WinNT4, you would get REXX installed automaticly.

Recently I've installed DB2V8 on XP, but no REXX came along... So, somewhere in the past IBM dropped that.. too bad.

Playing with linux you're exposed to bshell-scripts/perl/python and so on. When I scratch my head I think: "All this can be done with REXX as well". But for some reason REXX never found it's way in the linux-world.

Some things I cannot explain. This is one of them. Anybody?

 

[rexxhead]

It's important to understand that IBM is in the hardware business, not the software business; at least, that's what they've always thought.

IBM deals software only if it helps them sell more hardware. Some time back it became plain that REXX doesn't help sell more hardware. It may even operate counter to that. IBM views this as "not a good thing".

On the other hand, with 14 free (or nearly free) REXX interpreters, including several for *IX, it's unlikely to lose lots of ground. Every day hundreds of programmers discover that REXX is easier to use than any of the alternatives.


Frank Clarke
Tampa Area REXX Programmers' Alliance
REXX Language Assn Listmaster

 

[ddiamond]

We are thinking of moving from Linux to OS400. I'm a little concerned because I will have to give up Korn Scripts and Perl Scripts. The OS400 does support REXX, however. Do you think REXX is a decent alternative to the Linux scripts? And if so, is there any good REXX tutorials you could recommend?

 

[rexxhead]

Look up KiloWatt Software on the web. They have a fairly complete tutorial with lots of examples.

Frank Clarke
Tampa Area REXX Programmers' Alliance
REXX Language Assn Listmaster

 

[ddiamond]

Thanks. That looks like a good starting point.