Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly

IBM i Brief: 🤖 Generative AI adoption surges for IBM i and Z. ℹ️ IBM CICS Transition on IBM i Platform.
AI: The Future of AI on IBM i.
Learning: What is an IBM i Journal?
Open Source: The RedMonk Programming Language Rankings: June 2024.
Security: 🔒 Summer of IBM i Vulnerabilities. 🔍 IBM i Penetration Testing: Safeguarding Your System. Expose IBM i Vulnerabilities: Is Your System’s Front Door Locked?🔒

IBM i Brief

🤖 Generative AI adoption surges for IBM i and Z

Kyndryl reports growing interest in using GenAI for modernizing IBM i and System Z platforms. 86% of surveyed companies plan to deploy GenAI, with 71% already doing so.

System Z leads with IBM’s Telum co-processor and watsonx Code Assistant, while IBM i focuses on AI via cloud hyperscalers. RPG-based AI projects are underway, and co-pilots assist in code modernization, test generation, and developer tools.

ℹ️ IBM CICS Transition on IBM i Platform

IBM has announced that CICS Transaction Server for i, product number 5770-DFH, included in base IBM i licenses, will only be fully supported until October 1, 2025. No direct replacement for CICS is offered; users can consider migrating to IBM i native options like CL commands or Rest API.

AI

The Future of AI on IBM i
🔍 IBM’s Granite model leads in AI transparency rankings

Stanford’s Foundation Model Transparency Index revealed that IBM’s Granite model scored 100% in key transparency categories, outperforming many popular models.

IBM’s commitment to open-sourcing Granite enhances transparency around data sources, compute resources, and risk mitigation.

In many of the categories tested by the FMTI, IBM’s Granite model scored a perfect 100%, far surpassing the averages for those categories. In the risk mitigations category, Granite was the clear leader. In the data category, the Granite model performed better than any other model, barring ServiceNow’s Starcoder, which is a code model, rather than a natural-language model.

With a focus on ethical AI, IBM aims to build trust for enterprises hesitant to adopt opaque models, positioning Granite as a leader in responsible AI innovation.

For a comprehensive introduction to Granite Code Models, you can learn more over at GitHub.

This was one of the big themes that we picked up at NAViGATE this week in Bonita Springs, FL.

We will have more on this next week.

Learning

What is an IBM i Journal? 📚

IBM i Journals are the Sherlock Holmes of data storage. IBM i Journal keeps a log of events, just like your Diary. Imagine writing down every single thing that happened to you during the day. This is what a journal does for any file on the system.

Find the Journal tutorial here.

Open Source

The RedMonk Programming Language Rankings: June 2024

RedMonk, a developer-focused industry analyst firm, releases biannual rankings of programming language popularity. Their latest report offers valuable insights into current trends in the software development world.

Rankings as of June 2024

JavaScript: Web development, front-end and back-end scripting
Python: General-purpose, data science, AI/ML, web development
Java: Enterprise applications, Android development, server-side programming
PHP: Server-side web development, content management systems
C#: Windows applications, game development (Unity), enterprise software
TypeScript: Large-scale JavaScript applications, adding static typing
CSS: Styling and layout for web pages
C++: System/software development, game engines, performance-critical applications
Ruby: Web development (Ruby on Rails), scripting, prototyping
C: System programming, embedded systems, performance-critical applications
Swift: iOS and macOS app development
Go: System programming, cloud and network services, concurrent programming
R: Statistical computing, data analysis, scientific research
Shell: System administration, automation, command-line scripting
Kotlin: Android app development, server-side development, cross-platform mobile
Scala: Big data processing, distributed computing, functional programming
Objective-C: iOS and macOS development (legacy)
PowerShell: Windows system administration, automation, and scripting
Rust: Systems programming, performance-critical applications, safe concurrency
Dart: Cross-platform mobile development (Flutter), web applications

Why is RPG not on this list?

The RedMonk Programming Language Rankings measure the popularity and usage of programming languages, based on data from GitHub (for usage) and Stack Overflow (for discussion and community). RedMonk rankings typically focus on general-purpose languages that have a wide user base and a significant presence on both of GitHub and Stack Overflow.

You can see the chart.

Security

🔒 Summer of IBM i Vulnerabilities

IBM has patched more than two dozen software vulnerabilities in the IBM i stack over the past few months, including flaws in Merlin, MQ, OpenSSH, the Java stack, Db2, Performance Tools, and the HTTP Server (the one powered by Apache).

Nine of the security vulnerabilities carry CVSS Base scores of 7 or higher, while one is above 8, making these serious security threats. If you haven’t applied the patches yet, you’re encouraged to do it soon.

Find all the details.

🔍 IBM i Penetration Testing: Safeguarding Your System

Penetration Testing:

Penetration testing simulates cyberattacks to identify security vulnerabilities. It’s crucial for uncovering hidden flaws, preventing breaches, and strengthening overall system defenses before real attackers can exploit them.

As IT Jungle reports, researchers from Silent Signal, Bálint Varga-Perke and Zoltan Panczel, have uncovered numerous security flaws on IBM i.

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