I had some access to a mainframe this year and learned the basics of z/OS. Things do feel very restricted and slowish, you really notice that it comes from a ba

I had some access to a mainframe this year and learned the basics of z/OS. Things do feel very restricted and slowish, you really notice that it comes from a batch background, and interactivity came later. A UNIX user might find it a bit frustrating. They can be interesting and do have their charms though. Interesting for you, on the real mainframe, due to the restrictions etc, there was only a limited number of things I could really do on it. Just the stuff I needed for my job and not much more. I actually learned more from reading "the book". I suggest just reading that and then you will have a good idea about whether you want to pursue access on the real machine or not. Free to download: http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246366.html http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246366.html