Information request for alternatives to TN3270/ISPF/OSHELL and more

I have started a new job which involves daily access to a Mainframe. This is my first experience with interacting with such a beast. My colleague has been helpful in getting me started, but I can't help but think that maybe he has been in the job too long.

Is it really the case that accessing via a TN3270 terminal is still standard practice ? Why can I only open one session at a time ? This is the clunkiest way to interact with an OS that I have ever used. Isn't there something better ?

ISPF (OMG !) Ignore that it seems like most of the menu items (1 (View), 2(Edit) 3.(Utilities), etc) bring the user to basically the same - hobbled functionality. How can it be that something like a file explorer interface has not been developed, with split pane, context sensitive menus, like FileCommander, or even Windwos Explorer ? IS that really the case ?

OSHELL - where do I start ? Is it really the state of the art to use the original Bourne Shell, isn't there a more modern shell (BASH or something else) ?

OSHELL continued - why do some unix commands work with PDs (or PDSs, or DSNs) and others not. example, cat, cp can access "//'MYUSER.SOME.DATA(TEXT)'", but anything useful like grep, sed, etc, cannot. WTF is up with that ?

I guess my basic question is, Is that normal ? Or have I been hired into a company that has incompetent Mainframe administrators ?

ISPF is the traditional interface, but there are many others. z/OSMF is part of every z/OS installation now, although it may not be used heavily yet in your shop. Zowe and zoau are also projects that try to bring more modern tooling to z/OS, and there's ansible support as well.

One thing to keep in mind is that z/OS is a descendant of the first general purpose OS, OS/360, and there were a very different set of concerns that were being optimized for at that time. In a lot of ways, it was the place where people figured out how to do things we take for granted now. z/OS can still do things no other OS can, so it's incredibly important to shops that rely on it, but it does take some getting used to.

welcome to the mainframe - it's a bit different isn't it?

If I understand correctly, your z/OS Systems Programmers (we don't usually say "Mainframe administrators"), should be able to provide you with a way of interacting with OMVS/USS (Unix on z/OS) similar to other Unix type operating systems. We normally use PuTTY/telnet, and non-z/OS people can work away much as they do on other systems.

If you need to work on z/OS itself; then "yes" ISPF is the traditional way; although new tools are being made available all the time to enable non-z/OS users. Again, ask your systems programmers.

Please try to be nice to your z/OS people; your frustrations are not uncommon, but they're here to help you.