Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!uwmcsd1!bbn!spdcc!ima!think!barmar
From: barmar@think.COM (Barry Margolin)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: ranking on IBM (was Re: AT&T Joining OSF)
Message-ID: <26931@think.UUCP>
Date: 29 Aug 88 19:51:19 GMT
References: <347@spies.UUCP> <670025@hpclscu.HP.COM> <269@quintus.UUCP> <2029@swatsun.cs.swarthmore.edu> <6855@potomac.ads.com>
Sender: news@think.UUCP
Reply-To: barmar@kulla.think.com.UUCP (Barry Margolin)
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 22

In article <6855@potomac.ads.com> jtn@potomac.ads.com (John T. Nelson) writes:
>IBM probably sees to it that you NEED that support by developing
>hardware and software that is either unreliable or unapproachable by
>anyone except trained individuals.

Where have you been for the last thirty years?  IBM has one of the
best reputations in the industry for their hardware.

As for self-service, how many computer vendors actually allow sites to
do their own servicing?  I doubt that there are many mainframe systems
that are serviceable by untrained personnel.  Field service is a fact
of life in the large-system world.  And IBM's field service
organization also has a good rep.

Of course, I wouldn't ever want to have to use IBM systems much, but
that is because of the software.

Barry Margolin
Thinking Machines Corp.

barmar@think.com
{uunet,harvard}!think!barmar