Hi José,
You state a funny oxymoron: "affordable AIX workstation". Those words can't be used together in a sentence.
The market for a AIX workstation is tiny. It has already been tried and not mass market - see https://www.raptorcs.com/TALOSII/
The problem is the cost, which was around $10,000. It is not going to compete with a second-hand laptop as a Linux device.
I like everything else you say.
However, there is an alternative. Developers and/or SysAdmin people have access to AIX for less than the price of a cup of coffee!
- PowerVS - Power and AIX on the IBM Cloud to get you started from $3 | €3 / £2 per day.
- A hands-on starter pack for a quick and cheap exploration of PowerVS, AIX, development and systems admin skills.
- Once you have tried it, you can decide to move production workloads to the PowerVS Cloud.
- My YouTube series is here ttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKQlFnmiWVyeK1chlV8hFtHj7Y3plhW9d
Perhaps, IBM could start a PowerVS based tiny AIX User Club plus hand-out Tokens = making it free for a few months.
That could be started immediately and at low cost to IBM.
Users contributing AIX based software, or an article or passing education modules could earn more months of PowerVS access.
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Nigel Griffiths - IBM retired
London, UK
@mr_nmon
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Original Message:
Sent: Thu October 23, 2025 04:56 AM
From: José Pina Coelho
Subject: Educational videos on Power Technology
Just a minor disagreement: Hobbyists absolutely have the capacity to disrupt the enterprise market, bit time.
Can't think of anything more disruptive than the things that made the cloud possible.
It's a question of enabling the disruption and of being able to ride the disruption.
IBM could make an affordable AIX workstation around the Power11, with a hobbyist license for VIOS/AIX/iOS, it's just a matter of not being afraid that it would steal the higher end business.
This will inject a ton of fresh blood into the Power ecosystem, and as we saw with the FOSS world, availability drives support, which expands the ecosystem and makes it an option for smaller software developers. This increases the amount of developers that see AIX/iOS as a viable target, which would drive up the sales o Power.
Is IBM capable of being bold ?
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José Pina Coelho
IT Specialist at Kyndryl
Original Message:
Sent: Wed October 22, 2025 06:41 PM
From: John Cuningham
Subject: Educational videos on Power Technology
I am a developer who recently found your videos, and took you up on the suggestion to sign up for IBM Cloud to get access to Aix on Power. I read the 2018 Aix 7.2 book by Sebastian Biedroń, and recently I have been learning power assembly. I have no real goals other than to have fun, and see what a proprietary UNIX as an alternative to Linux might look like.
I really wish IBM would do more to make Aix learning materials and systems available. Your unofficial content is some of the best stuff out there. I realize that I am not the target market for IBM, and I don't think IBM actually wants Aix to continue, but mindshare has a value. Hobbyists aren't going to disrupt the enterprise market, they are going to enhance it. I think you not having access to the latest hardware despite evangelizing it is an example of the phenomena.
I really have enjoyed watching your videos, thank you for posting them. Can't wait to see what you do next.
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John Cuningham
Original Message:
Sent: Wed October 22, 2025 06:09 PM
From: Nigel Griffiths
Subject: Educational videos on Power Technology
Today, we hit one million views of my 222 YouTube videos.
Find them here: https://www.youtube.com/@nigelargriffiths
YouTube Playlists of videos include popular topics:
- Power features
- AIX
- NMON
- NJMON
- PowerVS
- POWER9
- Power10
- Power11 (soon)
- HMC
- Performance Monitoring
- Linux On Power
I think this proves the popularity of these hands-on videos with IBMers, Business Partners, customers and techies to learn about IBM products.
They are used for education, quick start on new technology, removing Fear, uncertainty and doubt, which yields increased customer satisfaction.
However, I am now retired, so I no longer have access to the latest hardware and software.
There does not seem to be a plan or volunteers to continue this work.
BTW: I have a Power11 video in preparation.
Your thoughts, please.
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Nigel Griffiths - IBM retired
London, UK
@mr_nmon
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