Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!haven!umd5!feldman
From: feldman@umd5.umd.edu (Mark Feldman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Lack of feedback
Message-ID: <4526@umd5.umd.edu>
Date: 14 Feb 89 22:23:26 GMT
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Lines: 38

There has been a lot of discussion about the source issue and I am glad -- I
instigated the most recent flurry a few weeks back.  It's a shame that the
discussion has degraded to name calling.  In a perfect world, no one would
need source, but having source wouldn't be a problem, either.  In order for
us to maintain and support a workstation as complex as the NeXT in our
environment, we need source (I gave arguments in a previous posting).  It is
NeXTs right to disagree and our right to not purchase NeXTs.

The big problem -- bigger than the s-word -- is NeXTs seeming inability to
provide timely, decisive responses to our questions and comments.  NeXT has
been asking for comments since day one, providing warm fuzzies at every
turn.  What they haven't provided are answers.  I have been to both the
developer and support camps.  I have heard about some of the changes coming
in 0.9 and 1.0, but not in any manner that could be considered official --
not in a manner that could be used to make decisions.  

I am now forced to sit and wait -- holding my breath -- and must tell others
on my campus to do the same.  This lack of positive feedback is very
frustrating.  At the start I was excited by the prospect of fighting for
what I wanted in the NeXT, now I am getting tired.  I can only perform a
monologue for so long, no matter how enthusiastic the audience (``Funny,
Mark -- you seem to be able to rant and rave for hours at a time'').

At the support camp that I attended last week, I found that many others
shared the same NeXT concerns that I and others at my campus have.  NeXT has
pushed support onto the campuses, yet the level of information that we have
received so far is not much more than what any other NeXT user with some
UNIX experience has.  People are asking me the same questions about NeXT
that they would ask full-time, paid Apple, IBM, DEC, Sun, ... campus reps.
It's just a guess, but I bet that these other reps are better informed.

NeXT:  Tell us what you are going to do!  Make a decision on the s-word.
You have seen the arguments and you should have known about our requirements
from the start -- we are your target market!  

Arrrggghhh!

	Mark