mo@seismo.UUCP (Mike O'Dell) (12/03/83)
After venting my spleen in the previous messages, I got to thinking about why I was as aggravated as those notes showed I was. I don't have any personal bones to pick with either Mr. Florio or Ms. Yates, and /usr/group provides some very useful services to the Unix community. (The /usr/group software catalog has already been valuable for finding things we didn't have time to write, and has been powerful in combatting the "Unix doesn't have any software" management biases. Kudos for the catalog.) I guess the best way to explain my consternation is "possibilities unfulfilled." While I am aggravated with the specific arrangements for this particular meeting, I am really upset when I think about how valuable this conference COULD be. Let me go on. I believe there is no inherent reason why /usr/group and USENIX should be percieved in an adversarial light. While I am uncompromising in my insistance on a large, well-organized, technical program at meetings, I am also keenly interested in the vendor presentations. I routinely have to evaluate new machines and systems for all kinds of reasons: Department X wants to buy a machine of their own; should the get a Mumblefrotz 5 like Dept. Y has, or will a Megafoo XV be better for them? Even given they all run Unix, systems have strengths and weaknesses and I am asked to evaluate those. The advantage of a large show like Uniforum is that under one roof, I can survey a large cross-section of Unix product offerings, which makes my evaluations easier and more informed. Therefore, I am in favor of having a large vendor show at least once a year, but I also insist on the technical content. Why can't they seem to get this straight?? I dunno. Maybe the right people aren't talking to each other. Maybe people don't want to understand (if this is the case, then the problem is grave). I wish I did know. So, what't the point of all this? I still intend to button-hole /usr/group and USENIX board members at Uniforum, and I will still complain about the arrangements for this meeting, but I will also make the point that the saddest part is there is no rational reason for this apparant mutual antagonism. Reflecting in the flames, -Mike O'Dell