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From: freedman@calgary.UUCP (Dan Freedman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apollo
Subject: Re: procedural interfaces
Message-ID: <989@vaxb.calgary.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 1-Jul-87 09:01:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: vaxb.989
Posted: Wed Jul  1 09:01:08 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 4-Jul-87 05:14:47 EDT
References: <8706291746.AA09491@EDDIE.MIT.EDU>
Organization: U. of Calgary, Calgary, Ab.
Lines: 28
Summary: the ultimate caveat

In article <8706291746.AA09491@EDDIE.MIT.EDU>, krowitz@mit-kermit.UUCP (David
Krowitz) writes:
> Of course Apollo (or Berkley, or anyone else for that matter) wants to
> support as little software as they have to. The point I was making was
> that if enough users get together and ask for the same feature time and
> again, then the manufacturer (Apollo in this instance) will feel some
> pressure to provide it. If everyone just sits on their ass and grumbles
> to themselves and never get around to writing UCRs (or sending mail to
> Sun, or whatever) then NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE, and we will be forced
> to muck around with /dev/kmem (or invoke LCNODE, or someother horrible
> kludge which will break just as soon as someone changes the kernal).

Of course, the buyer has one rather strong option that doesn't require him
to write any UCRs, and that is to buy elsewhere.  While customer feedback
is very important in determining future improvements to a product, a
customer is going to feel far better about spending money on a product
where the vendor is innovative enough to improve the product without being
bullied into it by its customers.  (Note that I'm speaking generally here,
and not specifically about Apollo).  A vendor should be able to look
introspectively at its products in order to improve them to gain new
customers (who, since they are not yet customers, won't be sending in
UCRs!)  Thus, I disagree with your statement that nothing will ever change
without UCRs.  At the very least, if a product does not change, if it
stagnates, then the vendors competitors will surely take advantage of the
fact, and the products market share will drop.  IBM is quite possibly
an exception to all of this.  9~>

	Dan Freedman