Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!rick
From: rick@seismo.CSS.GOV (Rick Adams)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: VMS is not the evil empire
Message-ID: <44265@beno.seismo.CSS.GOV>
Date: 16 Mar 88 19:10:47 GMT
References: <12067@brl-adm.ARPA> <707@hdr.UUCP> <20469@bu-cs.BU.EDU> <181@mcf.UUCP>
Organization: Center for Seismic Studies, Arlington, VA
Lines: 18
Summary: alternative to dec maintenance

If you are unhappy with the way DEC maintenance jerks you around because
you run UNIX, you might consider having Control Data maintain your
DEC equipment (yes CDC does do DEC maintenance).

We switched to CDC a few years ago and have no regrets. The service is
better, they don't bitch about unix (although they occasionally ask
for help in interpreting some of the more obscure unix error messages.
I find that quite acceptable), and they ended up saving us quite
a bit of money over DEC maintenance. (Money was not the
major issue. Response time and ineptness of service once they
actually responded was a big factor)

I don't know if DEC maintenance has improved locally in the past few
years, but we have no reason to try them and see.

(We are running "real" 4.3bsd as opposed to Ultrix, etc)

---rick