(Excerpts from a message dated 09-21-99, Will Honea to Murray Lesser)

Hi Will--

ML>     I, for one, expect to continue to use OS/2 for my home
ML> systems, even if it is never updated!  If new applications I may
ML> decide that I need are not generally available for OS/2, I will
ML> write my own.  It isn't any problem for me to avoid using hardware
ML> that is not supported by OS/2 since I learned long ago never to be
ML> the first kid on the block with the latest computer gadgets or
ML> software.  I may never update my present hardware unless it dies
ML> :-).  If I last long enough, I may well be the last noncommercial
ML> OS/2 user around!  (Will Honea may outlast me!) 

WH>Hey, a little repect if you will!  As it happens, I took this current
  >contract 18 months ago to maintain an OS/2 desktop app for a big
  >telecom outfit.  Supposed to last 6 months, they are now talking
  >about upgrading several thousand desktops to Warp 4 (they still use
  >Warp 3 ) and the app has nearly doubled in size and function with
  >over $2 million budgeted for software updates and extensions next
  >year.  I thought I was stepping into an easy job but I've been
  >working my fanny off because all the young twerps want nothing to do
  >with a 'dead OS'. I really appreciate that attitude every week when
  >I go to the bank: supply and demand at work .

    I've forgotten the exact number (I think it was around $18,000/month
in US money) that David told me PL/I contract programmers in London were
getting for Y2K work.  Even COBOL programmers are getting rich these
days (at least until the end of the year!).  It seems that it really
pays to be obsolete :-).

WH>As long as it's the best tool for the job I'll keep using it and I
  >haven't found a better one yet.  And if I ever do get to retire
  >(anybody know a good way to prod the last young one thru college in a
  >reasonable time?) I still have enough goodies from IBM to keep me
  >entertained for a long tiem - I might even re-install PL/I.

    You will just have to tough it out.  I retired shortly after I made
the last tuition payment for my younger daughter.

WH>As for OS/2 being abandoned, that's a matter of perspective.  This
  >job is for a company that is big enough to get IBM's attention so I
  >can pick up a phone and get (reasonably) competent help any time I
  >want it.
  > Support looks a lot different when you are one of IBM's targets!

WH>As an aside, Murray, if you will think back you will discover that
  >Microsoft did not sell a retail copy of DOS until the 5.0 upgrade
  >came out.  They were all bundled with a computer and only IBM sold
  >DOS as a separate product.  DOS is probably the most pirated single
  >program ever distributed.

    Yeah, but IBM was selling it as a separate product long before
anybody else made a computer that could use it.  IIRC, only IBM and
Compaq modified Microsoft's DOS to improve the performance of their
hardware.  All the "clone" manufacturers took it just as it came from
MS.  According to an old DESQview386 manual I have, both IBM's and
Compaq's DOS were "tuned" to their specific hardware, so their machines
running under their versions of DOS had much better performance than did
the infringing clones running under Microsoft's.  These measurements

were made after DOS 5.0 came out, so users of IBM or Compaq machines
were very foolish trying to save a buck by stealing the MS "generic"
version from a friend, or buying it from their local discount store :-(.

    Regards,

        --Murray

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