I am greatly concerned that "DB2 Magazine" overlooks an install base of 800,000+ systems and many more instances of DB2 UDB in the OS/400 and i5/OS community … DB2 Magazine would be remiss … should it chose to ignore this extensive community of DB2 consumers. I'm sure you're aware that many small companies leverage the capabilities of DB2 for i5/OS, but you might be surprised at the number of large and extra-large household-name companies that do as well.

Thanks to the steady stream of letters I received last year (read them in the Message Queue sections of the 2006 issues), I am well aware of the interest for information on this venerable DB2 family member. And the good folks at IBM's Rochester facility have heard (and heeded) readers' calls, too. IBM's Kent Milligan and his fellow DB2 for i5/OS Technology Enablement team members are penning an ongoing column, i5/OS DBA, which debuted in the print and online editions of Issue 1, 2007 with a piece on performance diagnostics. Kent himself contributed the column's latest installment on simplified management of external UDFs and stored procedures. For now, the i5/OS columns will run online only, with a pointer from the print magazine.

The moral of the story? Feedback works. Some of you received a link to our annual readership survey last week. If you were one of those who did, I hope you filled it out, as the results help us track how well the information we provide is meeting your needs so we can make adjustments based on your preferences. If you didn't receive the survey link but would like to share your ideas, requests, and general thoughts about the magazine, please leave a comment below or email me directly. I look forward to hearing from you.

In the meantime, don't forget that you now have a measure of control over DB2mag.com's content. You can write your own articles and post them to the DB2 Magazine wiki at any time. Instructions for becoming a wiki author are on the main page. Everyone is welcome to participate.