Some of us would like to see IBM "open source" other stuff, like OS, VSE, VM. Heck, they can keep the source, just give us a hobby, or a "not for profit" license...

And they can keep the current stuff, the stuff they make money on today - like z and ESA. I'ld be more than happy if I could run something like the 20+ year old VSE/SP on my PC at home, under Hercules...

But no, we're stuck with 40 year old "public domain" software, stuff like DOS 26.2 from the System/360 days. Hey, it was fun, I was the "Sysgen Kid" back then. But it only remotely relates to what an, even 20 year old mainframe, is all about today, stuff like CICS...

CICS is a perfect example. Back in the 1.x days, you had 100% of the CICS source code, as long as you had a license. Today "transactiuon server" is a big secret...

Sorry for the OT rant, but it ticks me off. IBM has dumped billions into Linux, but us old greybeards, those of us that wrote those countless lines of Assembly and COBOL and RPG, and yes, CICS code, custom code, without which IBM would have a great OS and nothing else. Those of us that worked shift after shift of unpaid OT, tweaking that demo, making it perfect for the guy that will be spending the IT budget. Those of us that helped make IBM what it is. Those of us that truly enjoy what we do, as a job and hobby...

We can't play with our toys at home, legally that is...

I'm going to retire in a few years. I won't be a licensed user any longer. And I surely can't afford the 4 figure monthly "commercial" software license fee, let alone the 6 figures to "buy" it...

Come on IBM, great "open source" promoter that you have become lately. Do it for us original geeks, we need something to do in our old age...

Open source this - VSE/SP 3.1

To me, what makes it a mainframe is the fact that it is designed from the ground up to be a multi-programming, multi-user system. Things like multiple CPUs, multiple channels running at the same time while the CPUs continue to execute instructions of other programs, interrupts, storage protection, all these were part of the original System/360 architecture.

I get a kick out of some of the newbies. You guys like your fancy new 64-bit x86 PC? Well, everything from the 360/65 up all had 8-byte storage access and 8-byte channels, 40 years ago! :)