Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att-cb!cbosgd!decuac!avolio
From: avolio@decuac.dec.com (Frederick M. Avolio)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: VMS is not the evil empire
Message-ID: <2504@decuac.DEC.COM>
Date: 9 Mar 88 16:57:19 GMT
References: <12067@brl-adm.ARPA> <707@hdr.UUCP> <20469@bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Sender: daemon@decuac.DEC.COM
Organization: DEC SWS, Landover, MD
Lines: 33

In article <20469@bu-cs.BU.EDU> bzs@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Barry Shein) writes:
>
>>...in our area, one would probably receive better *local* support for VMS
>>than Ultrix.  KEEP IN MIND I am referring to LOCAL support!  Both VMS
>>and Ultrix 'OS' (long distance call) level support for us has been excellent.
>>Eric J. Johnson         UUCP: eric@hdr.UUCP || ...!{ihnp4, codas}!hdr!eric

>DEC's pathological resistance to providing hardware service on Vaxes
>running Ultrix or Unix is a good reason not to buy Vaxes, ...

>This has been known for years as the "We can't fix it because it runs
>Unix(Ultrix)" DEC field service standard excuse #1. ...
>...it's just a good excuse that unfortunately
>is accepted by their field service management.

Not any more.  Ken Olsen has made it clear that we support UNIX and
VMS equally, we fund them equally, and with the same level of
committment.  (This in a *very* recent clarification statement on
Digital's UNIX commitment.)

If you are still getting that kind of garbage from field engineers,
yell good and hard about it!  (Drop *me* a note...  I can't do
anything, but I promise to yell also.)  VAX diagnostics run under
Ultrix as well as under VMS.  And the support structure for field
service is in place up north -- has been for quite some time -- to
support them when/if they get into a jam that requires talking to an
operating system engineer.

Will Ken Olsen making such a statement as mentioned fix everything
overnight?  Certainly not.  Will it happen just because he wants it
to?  Probably...

Fred