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From: root@turnkey.UUCP (Super user)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix
Subject: Re: SCO Xenix support
Message-ID: <133@turnkey.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 20-Aug-87 19:56:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: turnkey.133
Posted: Thu Aug 20 19:56:17 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 23-Aug-87 23:39:38 EDT
References: <6974@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP> <56@splut.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: Turnkey Computer Consultants, Costa Mesa, CA
Lines: 42
Keywords: support
Summary: Not totally fair to SCO

In article <56@splut.UUCP>, jay@splut.UUCP (Jay Maynard) writes:
> In article <6974@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP>, davidsen@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP (William E. Davidsen Jr) writes:
> > I really like the SCO product, but their support policy seems just short
> > of useless. It is aimed for the first time user, who will ask stuff like
> > "how do I add my xyz printer?" It only covers the first N days (90 I
> > think, but it may only be 30).
> > [...]
> > Does anyone else share my opinions?
> 
> I can't speak to SCO, but Microport has the same policy (though they're not
> quite as expen$ive). They want $149/year for technical support, and that
> includes calls to report bugs! Real, live, system crashes.
> 
> I don't object paying for handholding (I'll do without instead), but for a
> vendor to charge me to fix a bug in his product is absurd. I love SV/AT, but
> would not recommend it to anyone except a Un*x wizard, simply because it'll
> cost him too much to get it running, both in sweat/tears and tech support $
> (they also removed the tech support people from their 800 number :-P ).

I think both of you are forgetting the proper perspective in this issue, after
all have you ever inquired what a company running Unix on, say, a Vax 11/780
is paying for its tech support? I have a feeling that $149/yr would be a paltry
sum by comparsion. Jay, when you say you would not recommend uport to anyone
but a "Un*x wizard" you forget that most sites employ just such a person to 
keep their system functional, they are called system administrators and it is a
full time job. Of course when you port Unix to a small system like an AT, it 
is a different economic situation, but the operating system is no less complex
and, thus, to expect support to compare to, say, your printer problem with
Wordstar under DOS just is not fair. Believe me, I sympathize with you both
in terms of our dollars spent, but I also understand the position of SCO and
Microport. Technical staffs are not cheap, and if SCO must employ the so-called
Un*x wizard to help you, then why should they foot the whole bill? It all boils
down to the issue of the cost of such a system, you cannot run a complex OS likeXenix or uport Unix without the attendant costs of tech. administration, if you
are able to provide it yourself, fine, otherwise one must just expect to have topay for that service, whether from an independent consulting firm, or from SCO
or Microport directly. You may even be able to get a freebie or two from the
net :-}.

-- 
Jack F. Vogel
Turnkey Computer Consultants, Costa Mesa, CA
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