Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!portal!atari!apratt
From: apratt@atari.UUCP (Allan Pratt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Bugs in new BETA ROMS? (quiet down)
Message-ID: <1158@atari.UUCP>
Date: 6 Sep 88 19:47:50 GMT
References: <561@accelerator.eng.ohio-state.edu> <1988Sep5.134226.397@mntgfx.mentor.com>
Reply-To: apratt@atari.UUCP (Allan Pratt)
Organization: Atari (US) Corporation, Sunnyvale, California
Lines: 50

Leonard Harris writes (roughly) that Mr. Drapal is justified in using
the net for his complaints about this UNRELEASED Atari product,
because he MIGHT not have gotten a reaction to communicating with
us directly.

To summarize Dave Clemens, I have been right all along:

> ... of the three "bugs"
> reported by Myron, two have apparently already been fixed, and the
> other is not a bug in the ST system [... because of DOS 1.x or clone].

What better response do you want than "it's already been fixed" and
"it's a problem with your clone / OS level, not the Atari OS?"

What Mr.  Harris has temporarily ignored is that the "product" that Mr. 
Drapal is complaining about isn't a product at all: it is a test copy of
the new OS.  If we shipped that as a for-real, costs-money product, he
would be justified in commenting on it publicly.  However, since it is
not, he is not justified.  Perhaps, as Mr. Harris says, if he had gotten
no response when talking with Atari directly, he could have complained
about *that* to the net.  But he didn't try.

Look at the history of this whole thing:

Atari ships TOS ROMs to subsidiaries, for testing and translation. 

Mr. Drapal discovers (personally or indirectly) some problems.

Mr. Drapal goes on the net and bashes Atari.

Atari replies that the things he is complaining about have been fixed,
and asks him not to post problems with this UNRELEASED product to the net.

Mr. Drapal continues flaming Atari on the net.

Atari replies, again, that we have already addressed the things he
mentions, and again asks him to stop posting about this.

Mr. Drapal continues...

...and so on.

Am I being unfair?  Look at the signal/noise ratio of Mr. Drapal's
postings as compared with Atari's.  Look at what he says and how he
says it, and compare with Atari.  Look at the fact that he has been
WRONG on virtually every point he's made.  Then judge.

============================================
Opinions expressed above do not necessarily	-- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp.
reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else.	  ...ames!atari!apratt