Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!munnari.oz.au!goanna!minyos!monu6!monu1!bruce!trlluna!ilium!andrews
From: m.andrews@trl.oz.au (Murray Andrews)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apollo
Subject: Re: HP Response to Netpower Open Letter
Message-ID: <2264@trlluna.trl.oz>
Date: 24 Sep 90 06:58:19 GMT
References: <7680002@hpccc.HP.COM>
Sender: news@trlluna.trl.oz
Organization: Telecom Research Laboratories, Melbourne, Australia
Lines: 92

In article <7680002@hpccc.HP.COM>, lufkin@hpccc.HP.COM (Paul Lufkin) writes:
> HP thanks you for the open letter, titled "Hewlett-Packard,
> Apollo Customers, and the Internet".  HP has continually received
> the highest satisfaction ratings from our customers.

Not from us.

> 1.    Improved response to APR's:  When HP receives an Apollo
>       Product Report (APR), our highest priority is to get it
>       fixed.  Normally, fixes committed to in these responses are
>       put either in the next patch train or the next release,
>       depending on the seriousness of the defect.  By the end of
>       September, HP will start to distribute to all of its support
>       customers Domain SR10.3.

When are we likely to see this in Australia? In general it takes *many* months
for releases to appear in Australia. Why is this? We have only (within the last
month or so) received 10.2.p. We still have not received an official copy
(with manuals) of NFS for SR10.2.

>       Currently, HP's strategic investment in electronic services
>       is HP SupportLine.  HP SupportLine is an electronic support
>       tool that is included at no additional charge with every
>       right-to-update license.  Every HP/Apollo customer who has
>       purchased the right to upgrade their software already has
>       access to this service.

I have not heard of this before and our group (as far as I know) have still
not been officially notified of this service. I have scanned our latest 
Customer Support Services Agreement (dated mid July 90) and cannot see any
mention of it (but would be glad to find out I have missed it). This agreement
includes software updates. I assume it is something different from HP
ApolloLine.

> 
> *     Patch Issues:  HP has been aware of the need to dramatically
>       improve the flow of information regarding known software
>       problems and relevant patches when applicable to our
>       workstation support customers.  Well before the Open Letter
>       appeared on the Internet, resources had been committed to
>       addressing these issues, in a consistent manner, for all
>       HP9000 and Apollo support customers worldwide.

There was/is little evidence of this from our point of view. We have still
received no official notification of the suid_exec and [rw]bak debacles.

>       Patch Information:  Starting February 1991, Apollo defect
>       status and responses (i.e., Software Status Bulletins) will
>       be published on a regular, monthly basis.  This information
>       will be electronically available via HP SupportLine, and
>       hardcopy versions may also be mailed to support customers.

*May* be mailed to customers?  What about posting it to this group or using
an electronic mailing list?

>       Apollo patches,
>       such as those required for security issues, are distributed
>       to all customers just like a software upgrade.  All of these
>       services are currently available to Apollo software support
>       customers.

This is not happening for us. We have *never* received any patch that we
haven't
explicitly asked for. The security problems recently discovered were only made
known to us via the network. Although I must admit that this is, unfortunately,
very like the software upgrade process.


> *     Security:  HP is aware that there are Domain functions which
>       have been viewed as features to some, and potential security
>       issues to others.  The Apollo Systems Division is developing
>       a technique to make these functions customer-selectable.

Hands up everybody who thought the suid_exec thing a feature.

> 
> *     Alert System:  HP currently notifies customers of critical
>       support issues in a several ways.  HP support customers are
>       alerted to critical support problems from their field
>       representatives, customer letters, and in emergency patch
>       shipments to every affected support customer.  We will
>       investigate how we might also use Internet, to complement
>       the other existing communications channels, to facilitate
>       this customer communication

We would be satisfied if the alert system actually does what it is
already supposed to do.


Murray Andrews.

*My opinions are my own and not necessarily those of Telecom Australia*