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IIUG Alert (Issue #13)
December 28, 2001

Other Issues

Welcome to the IIUG Alert! The IIUG Alert contains time-sensitive material for the IBM Informix community. Please provide feedback via e-mail to ug@iiug.org.

CONTENTS

  1. Happy New Year from the IIUG Board
  2. Online 5 is Alive and Well
  3. IDS 9.3 Status on Linux
  4. New Lug Corner
  5. Useful Links

1) Happy New Year from the IIUG Board!>

The IIUG Board would like to share its optimism for the coming year, expressed recently by Board members to the entire Informix community. This past year has been very eventful and as the year draws to a close, there are many positive signs that 2002 will be a great year for Informix!

Fred Hubbard, Board President, recently shared that "We have a lot to look forward to in 2002 as many of our doubts have been put to rest, and a clearer vision for our community seems to be taking shape." Board member Jerry Hamilton expressed that the Informix community "has achieved remarkable success in membership growth, product recognition and the transfer of technical knowledge to more and more people."   Fellow IIUG Board member Ron Flannery adds: "I believe that this year has been the most successful in the history of the IIUG."

As you will see in the following articles, even the venerable Online 5.0 has a bright future.  We also feature some of the latest IDS offerings for the Linux platform.  This issue also includes the new "LUG Corner" and is further evidence of the IIUG Board's continued IIUG initiative to strengthen our Special Interest Group (SIG) lists and Local User Groups (LUGs). This "lite" issue of the Alert reflects the hope that the majority of our readership is enjoying a much deserved break. before embarking on a tremendous New Year!

2) Online 5 is Alive and Well  

NOTE: For more information about OnLine 5 as well as the other "classic" products, you can subscribe to the "classics" E-mail discussion list, as indicated on your membership profile.

In reply to a question from the user community about the status of Online 5, Marcia Lyons, Online 5 Product Manger for IBM, reported that the venerable work-horse is indeed "alive and well."

Referring to the product's white paper maintained on line at the IBM Web (see http://www-4.ibm.com/software/data/informix/online5/ ), she shared that "IBM continues to support traditional database servers and tools, the IBM Informix "Classic" products. These products have earned a reputation for utter reliability, robustness, simplicity and ease of use. Customers of all sizes and in many industries have relied on these products for a decade or more, and IBM is committed to sell, support and enhance them in line with market demand, while not disturbing the fundamental stability that makes them so attractive. Key to the future of these products is our ongoing commitment to port them to new and updated operating systems as they become available."

Concluding in her positive and upbeat response to the user she stated "All of this demonstrates a commitment far greater than even a few years ago. It's exciting to now be able to step forward and show our customers strong future plans for OnLine 5."

3) IDS 9.3 Status on Linux

NOTE: For more information about Informix on Linux, you can subscribe to the "linux-informix" E-newsletter, as indicated on your membership profile.

Our informix-linux SIG list has a new moderator (Sean R. Durity) who has taken the initiative to update the Linux FAQ page. One question recently fielded was whether Informix 9.3 was available on the Linux platform. He reported that "Yes, there is a Linux version of 9.30. Linux is still a supported platform and will be ported near the release date of other platforms. As we all know, IBM is a big supporter of Linux, so I expect this to continue (one reason we choose Informix on Linux)."

He reported that there are two part numbers for Linux kernels 2.2.14 and 2.4.0.  Watch for much more news about Informix on Linux in the upcoming issues of this IIUG Alert!

4) New LUG Corner

Several Informix Local User Groups (LUGs) met in the month of December, wrapping up an exciting year in the Informix Community. LUGs in Michigan (MIUG), Washington, DC (WAIUG), Arizona (AZIUG), North Texas (NTIUG) and Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana (OKIIUG) all convened during the busy month of December. Topics covered new features in IDS 9.3, Server Studio, the Geospatial datablade, performance tuning, 4GL and 4Js, data warehouse tips and much more.

Many LUGs are making plans for 2002, including several who have not met in a while and some that will meet for the first time. Colorado, N. California, S. Florida and Mexico are just a few. For a complete list of events, please visit www.iiug.org and click on "Calendar" then "Events."  Hopefully you will see something in your area and can participate.

5) Useful Links

Watch the IIUG Highlights location for the 2001 IIC Recap photo feature!
  http://www.iiug.oindex.php

NEW: Upcoming IBM US conferences
http://www-3.ibm.com/services/learning/conf/index.php

Informix Page within IBM PartnerWorld for Developers
http://www.developer.ibm.com/data/informindex.php

IBM Informix homepage
http://www-4.ibm.com/software/data/informix/

Recent Data Management Product Announcements
http://www-4.ibm.com/software/data/launch/

Informix News from IBM Data Management
http://www-4.ibm.com/software/data/news/informix.html

Closing and Credits
The International Informix Users Group (IIUG) is an international organization designed to enhance communications between IBM Informix and its worldwide user community. IIUG is now approaching 13,000 members and enjoys major support from IBM's Data Management division. We also help local user groups get started and promoted.
Sources: IIUG Board of Directors

Editors: David Smith, Fred Hubbard, and Ron Flannery, IIUG Board of Directors

For comments, please send an email to ug@iiug.org.