The hardware architecture of the AS/400 will not allow direct installation of Unix OS on the AS/400. You can however, get an AS/400 with Linux pre-installed. My question would be, WHY? OS/400 comes with DB2/400 and all of the licenses required for the users. It comes with a Web server and Java Support. The AS/400 can already run in a semi-Unix environment and supports C and Java. Why would you BUY an additional operating system to do what the AS/400 already does better than Unix does and pay seat licenses of $800 per seat for a database system that requires $90- to $250-per hour database administrators to configure and operate and $150-per hour programmers to figure out and program. You already own the best midrange technology in the world. I got you to over $2,000 per seat in additional costs without the system ever leaving your building. I never completely understand the corporate decisions to throw away a system that you currently own and don't even know the capabilities of the machine you have. You need to get a new boss.
This was first published in May 2001