[comp.sys.hp] Netpower: OPEN LETTER to HP, LaTeX Version

jimr@maths.su.oz.au (Jim Richardson) (08/15/90)

Here is the promised LaTeX version of the Open Letter.  It was produced by
Steve Hamm (hamm@austoto.sps.mot.com): many thanks, Steve.  I've made a few
alterations.  

It differs in several minor ways from the final plain text form of the Open
Letter, which appeared as article <1990Aug1.014631.4721@metro.ucc.su.OZ.AU>.
The punctuation and capitalization have been improved slightly: in particular,
"HP/UX" has been corrected to "HP-UX", "SUN" to "Sun", "ftp" to "FTP", and a
comma has been inserted before "say monthly" in Request 2(b).  The word order
has been reversed at the end of Request 3(e) to make /domain_examples/tcp/gated
fit on a line.

Note the comments about style option files at the beginning of the LaTeX file
itself.

The deadline for signatures is Thursday 16 August.  But please send any late
ones in anyway, direct to me at netpower@maths.su.oz.au, and I'll incorporate
them in the final list provided they arrive before I post it.  There were over
50 at last count.

Once the signatures are out, I hope everyone will send copies of the letter and
the signature list to appropriate people in HP.  (If you haven't got LaTeX, you
can use the plain text version.  I hope to make that, plus this version and the
PostScript output, available for FTP soon: I've nearly got ftpd sorted out.)
--
Jim Richardson
Department of Pure Mathematics, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Internet: jimr@maths.su.oz.au  Phone: +61 2 692 2232  FAX: +61 2 692 4534

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X\rhead[\fancyplain{}{\bf Open Letter to HP}]{\fancyplain{}{\bf\thepage}}
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X\newcommand{\USENET}{{\sc Usenet}}
X
X\newcommand{\ngp}[1]{{\tt #1}}
X\newcommand{\CSA}{\ngp{comp.sys.apollo}}
X\newcommand{\CSHP}{\ngp{comp.sys.hp}}
X\newcommand{\prog}[1]{{\tt #1}}
X
X\title{{\bf Open Letter to HP}\\[3mm]
Hewlett-Packard, Apollo customers, and the Internet}
X\author{}
X\date{1 August, 1990}
X
X\begin{document}
X
X\maketitle
X
X\section*{Background: The Internet and Usenet}
X
The ``Internet'' is a very large computer network using the TCP/IP protocols and
extending  over  much  of  the  world.   Among  the  services  it provides are
electronic mail, file transfer via the FTP protocol,  and  ``network  news'',  a
conferencing system somewhat akin to the internal HP notes groups.  
X
Network  news  is  divided  up  into  more  than a thousand ``newsgroups'', each
covering a different discussion area.  The computers  within  and  beyond  the
Internet which carry network news, the data links between those computers, and
the community of people who read the news, are collectively known as \USENET.
In mid--1990, the number of machines receiving \USENET\ articles was estimated at
over  26,000  and  the  total  number  of  people  who  read  some articles at
X1,109,000  \footnote{Reference:  ``\USENET\ readership summary report for Jun  90'',
Brian Reid (reid@decwrl.DEC.COM), article $<$1990Jul2.154231.28843@wrl.dec.com$>$ 
in Usenet newsgroup news.lists, 2 July 1990.}.
X
Two  of  the  newsgroups  carry  discussions among users of Apollo and HP 
computers: these groups  are  called  \CSA\  and  \CSHP.   It  is
estimated  that  in June 1990, these groups respectively had 27,000 and 23,000
readers worldwide (with an unknown amount of overlap); in  that  month,  there
were  166 articles totaling 250 kilobytes in \CSA, and 215 articles
totaling 323 kilobytes in \CSHP\  \footnote{Reference:  ``\USENET\ Readership
report for Jun 90'', Brian Reid, article $<$1990Jul2.154323.29469\@wrl.dec.com$>$
in group news.lists, 2 July 1990.}.  
X
Many  but  by  no  means  all of the machines connected to the Internet are in
educational or research institutions.  Numerous large and small commercial and
industrial customers of HP also have Internet access.
X
X
X\section*{Recent discussions in \CSA}
X
In  June  and  July  1990,  a discussion took place in \CSA\ on safe
methods for distributing information about  security  bugs  to  system  administrators.
This  led  on,  first,  to comments on the difficulty many Apollo
sites have experienced in obtaining copies of patch tapes from HP, and  thence
to  wide-ranging  criticisms  of  other  aspects  of HP's services to its customers.
Many Apollo system managers and users  who  had  become  increasingly
frustrated  with  HP's unresponsiveness began to realize that their problem or
their site or their national HP  office  was  not  an  isolated  case:  Apollo
customers all over the world felt they were encountering similar difficulties.
X
The tone of the discussions was by no means all negative.  Many people say:
X
X\begin{center}
X{\bf I love my Apollo, BUT ...}
X\end{center}
X
X
Aspects  of  Apollos  and  Domain/OS that received particular praise included:
token ring; the intuitive,  object-oriented,  ``automagically''  networked  file
system;  ACLs  (access  control lists  ---  though these seem to be a matter of
taste); the Display Manager; DDE (Domain Distributed Debugger);  dynamic  swap
space instead of a permanently reserved partition; ability to run both BSD and
SysV Unix simultaneously.  
X
There  were also many favorable comments on superhuman {\it unofficial} efforts to
help customers by many individual HP staff, including those  who  are  already
willing to post news articles on \USENET.
X
X
X\section*{The big BUT: customer service problems}
X
Unfortunately,  many  Apollo users have formed the impression that Apollo support
has become the poor relation within HP.  While customers with HP hardware
seem not unhappy with service  (at least, not vocally so),  large  numbers  of
Apollo customers are very dissatisfied.  We feel that the problems are not the
fault  of  the  hard-working Apollo support staff such as do exist:  the cause
instead lies in insufficient {\em numbers} of such staff,  and inadequate resource
provision to enable them to carry out their functions, combined with corporate
over-caution which hinders experiments with new approaches.
X
It might be argued, as far as educational  customers  are  concerned,  that  a
lesser  standard  of  service  is  appropriate, given the discount levels such
customers receive and the  low  levels  of  support  contract  they  generally
choose.   But this would be to ignore the fact that many of us feel we are not
even receiving the modest level of  support  for  which  we  have  contracted.
Moreover,  at  least  some  of  us  are reasonably sophisticated system administrators,
able to deal with most manual-reference questions  ourselves,  only
referring  {\em really}  knotty  questions to HP for advice, and sometimes able to
provide solutions that HP has not discovered itself.  Remember too that  while
educational  institutions  may  not have enormous buying power themselves, the
students  who  use their machines will be the next generation of computer purchasers
in industry and commerce.
X
Here  are some of the service problems which have been discussed among readers
of \CSA: 
X
X\begin{itemize}
X\item security  issues,  such as the open initial protections on Domain/OS directories
and dangerous utilities,  daemons' need  for  unprotected  directories,
absence of restrictions normally present in certain Unix system control tools,
and  downright  bugs  affecting  security  (details  are  deliberately omitted
here!);  the most serious worries are the absence of  any  kind  of  ``security
alert bulletin'' by which HP could rapidly notify Apollo sites of security bugs
and  fixes  as they are found, and --- at least until very recently --- apparent
lack of any attempt whatever to provide such notification;
X
X\item although  every  Domain/OS manual solicits APRs (Apollo Product Reports) in
the introductory ``Problems, Questions and Suggestions'' section,  and  although
the  on-line  manual  page  for the \prog{mkapr} utility gives an Internet electronic
mail address for APR submission and states ``Customer Services will acknowledge
all product reports received'', the reality is that APRs are not  an  effective
way  of  reporting problems:  the email addresses often bounce;  when email is
successful,  and  when  APRs  are submitted by more traditional means, 
acknowledgements are often not received (especially for APRs from outside  the  US);
substantive  responses to APRs never appear, or turn up after months or years;
even then the responses often fail to solve the original problem;
X
X\item  unsuitability  of telephone support for more technical questions (e.g., bug
reports involving tracebacks):  while telephone support can be  excellent  for
simple  questions and for new or naive users,  an electronic mail service with
fast turn-around would be preferred by many experienced programmers and system
managers, could provide as effective a shield for back-room HP  support  staff
as the telephone service,  and would more effectively handle time-zone difference 
problems for customers outside the US;
X
X\item long delays in delivery of software and hardware, e.g., NFS for SR10.2.p and
third-party sourced products like tape drives and Mathematica --- perhaps  made
worse  for  non--US  customers by poor communications between HP local and head
offices; 
X
X\item  perceived failure of procedures for timely automatic delivery  of  software
upgrades to customers with maintenance contracts; 
X
X\item  difficulties in finding out what bugs are known and what patches are available;
X
X\item  difficulty and delays in obtaining patch tapes, even in cases where it  was
apparent  that a particular patch might be relevant to an operating system bug
which was causing problems at a particular site --- as noted above, such delays
are very dangerous in the case of security-relevant patches; 
X
X\item ``closed'' policy on HP modifications to publicly available software: for example,
HP has changed the FTP daemon \prog{ftpd} to handle Apollo filetypes, but has
not released the source changes,  so that they cannot be incorporated into  an
enhanced version of \prog{ftpd} independently developed by Sam Shen at Berkeley which
permits  anonymous  FTP  without the need for the \prog{chroot} system call  (missing
from Domain/OS).
X
X\end{itemize}
X
A problem in the development rather than service area which has attracted much
comment  is  HP's  reluctance to incorporate such well-known tools as perl and
GNU Emacs into its own operating system releases.  
X
In the next three sections,  we present three requests to HP the  granting  of
which  we  feel  would  go  a  long way towards solving the problems described
above.
X
X
X\section*{Resource allocation within HP}
X
X\begin{quote}
X{\bf Request  1}: Hewlett-Packard should urgently take whatever policy decisions
and actions are necessary to ensure that the Apollo Systems  Division  has
resources available to it for support operations which are proportional to
those  provided  on the HP side.  Personnel levels and organization in the
Apollo Division support sector need to be reviewed and improved.
X\end{quote}
X
It  is  clear  from the complaints of Apollo users discussed above, contrasted
with the apparent relative happiness of HP--UX customers,  that  either  Apollo
Division  support  resources available per customer are smaller than those for
HP--UX,  or the resources in the Apollo Division are not being deployed effectively
X enough to satisfy customers' perceptions of their need for support.
X
We will not presume to  advise  HP  on  the  managerial  details  involved  in
implementing  Request 1.  The brevity and simplicity of this section should be
taken as emphasizing our belief in the importance  of  this  request  and  its
clear justification on grounds of equity.
X
X
X\section*{Use of the Internet}
X
The  Internet already allows users to support each other technically --- not to
mention in terms of morale. Although this certainly means great savings to HP,
it happens {\em in spite of} HP, not {\em in cooperation with} HP.  
X
We  propose  that HP take steps to provide better services to its customers on
the Internet by using the Internet in an  {\em organized  and  official}  way.  We
believe  that  this  will not only benefit users, but will increase efficiency
and feedback and reduce duplication for HP as well.
X
X\begin{quote}
X{\bf Request 2}:  We  would  like  HP  to set up an {\bf Internet Liaison Unit},
with sufficient staff, resources and authority to carry out the following 
operations:
X
X\begin{enumerate}
X\item Organize and oversee a new, effective system whereby APRs (and their
HP--UX counterpart) can be submitted by electronic mail, acknowledged
by return email, and then answered by email within a reasonable time
X--- say two months.  If a longer time is required,  a progress report
should be sent, say monthly.
X
X\item Arrange for a mail gateway between the Internet and internal HP mail,
or  publicize  any  such  gateway already in existence, so that customers 
on the Internet can conveniently communicate with their local
service people as an  optional  alternative  to  telephone  service.
X(The  gateway  could  have a filter or alias mechanism so that other
internal HP staff would not be bothered with mail  from  outside  if
they did not want it.)
X
X\item Monitor the \CSA\ and \CSHP\ \USENET\  newsgroups,  and
where appropriate arrange for responses to be provided from relevant
experts within HP.  It would also be very worthwhile to organize and
maintain  periodic  news  postings  containing answers to frequently
asked questions.
X
X\end{enumerate}
X\end{quote}
X
A  further  task  for  the unit would be to set up a public archive accessible
from the Internet.  We feel that this is  important  ---  and  perhaps  
controversial  ---  enough  to  be  stated  as  a  separate  request  with a detailed
explanation.
X
X
X\section*{A public archive}
X
X\begin{quote}
X{\bf Request  3}:  HP  should  establish  a  public archive on a new or existing
company machine connected  to  the  Internet,  to  make  customer  support
materials  available  via  FTP.   The  archive  should  be operated by the
Internet Liaison Unit, and should include at least the following:
X
X\begin{enumerate}
X\item an index of the latest version numbers of  all  supported  software,
and which operating system versions they work under;
X
X\item a regularly updated index of known bugs, e.g., a list of APRs,  perhaps
similar   to  an  on-line  version  of  the  {\it HP--UX  Software
Release/Status Bulletin} series, with workarounds if available;
X
X\item release notes for all current and beta  versions  of  all  supported
software (note that this would cover some bug reports; it would also
encourage customers to obtain upgraded versions);
X
X\item a complete set of all current patches,  say in  compressed  wbak  or
X\prog{tar  A}  format, with release notes (see caveats about security and
major patches below);
X
X\item source of HP modifications to generally available programs  such  as
X\prog{ftpd}  and \prog{sendmail}: this would allow us to keep those programs up to
date, enhance them, and send them back to HP (\prog{/domain\_examples/tcp/gated}
is a good start in this direction).
X\end{enumerate}
X\end{quote}
X
Note  that  the  archive  would  be {\em public}, so available to all Internet users
instead of being restricted to service  contract  holders.   There  are  rival
precedents  for  this.  Sun maintains a public archive of patches for FTP from
the Internet host uunet.uu.net.  Apple has an extensive archive of development
materials,  including  system software, sample code, technical notes and 
documentation,  for FTP from apple.com,  and apparently there are plans to  expand
this  service.  HP's own recent offering of a supported X11R4 server for HP--UX
via FTP from hpcvaaz.hp.com is a useful first step.
X
A  public  archive, available to all members of the Internet, is probably 
necessary because of prohibition by the National  Science  Foundation  and  other
funding bodies on use of the Internet for commercial gain.
X
Such  a  service  to  all owners of HP equipment would probably not reduce the
number who take out service contracts appreciably: a contract would  still  be
needed  to obtain software upgrades, and this is probably the greatest 
incentive for a contract at most sites.  (There would  be  no  expectation  that  HP
would continue to support obsolete versions of software through patches or bug
lists  in the archive.)  Furthermore,  the existence of a public archive would
demonstrate HP's commitment to its customers and to high standards,  and would
represent a major enhancement to the attractiveness of HP products.
X
Our  request  for a public archive is not a novel one: see the column 
X``The Inside Track: On HP--UX patches'' by Dave Taylor in {\it The HP Chronicle} 
of  May  1990 for  a  persuasive argument in favor of such an archive from an 
HP--UX point of view.
X
X
X\section*{Two caveats about patches}
X
Patches  which  address security problems should be included in the archive if
this can be done without causing security problems in itself.  System managers
of machines connected to the Internet must be particularly conscious of  security
questions, and have great interest in receiving security-related patches
as rapidly as possible.  However, security-patch release  notes  should  never
include  any  details  of the problems which they aim to correct: such details
can themselves lead to breaches of security at unpatched sites.   The  release
notes  should  simply state that the patch in question is security-related and
urgent.  A brief \USENET\ news item should announce the  addition  of  each  new
security patch to the archive.
X
Also  note  that some patches such as \prog{/sau*/domain\_os} may be so substantial as
to amount to de facto upgrades, and might need to be excluded  from  a  public
archive.   Excluded  patches  should  be distributed by traditional means, but
much more effectively and rapidly than at present.
X
X
X\section*{Benefits of using the Internet}
X
Of  course,  the  existence  of  support  facilities on the Internet would not
reduce  HP's traditional obligations to its service-contract customers, especially 
those without Internet connections (although it could  be  possible  for
such  customers  to gain access by other means,  for example,  dial-up UUCP ---
however unsatisfactory this method would be  considered  by  Internet  users).
But  we  believe that rapid and efficient dissemination of information via the
Internet would {\em save} HP money by cutting out duplicated effort.
X
XFor example, many of the more routine questions at present  addressed  to  the
telephone  service  hotlines  would  be  avoided if systems administrators had
on-line FTP and/or \USENET\ access to answers to frequently asked questions  and
information  such as usage tips and bug workarounds.  This would free HP telephone
service and other support resources which could be applied to more rapid
or deeper investigation of unusual problems and subtler bugs.
X
Distribution  of patches by FTP should be much cheaper and more efficient than
copying and physically distributing patch tapes.  
X
HP  would  enhance  its  competitiveness  by  providing public services on the
Internet as other companies do already.  Apart from the FTP archives mentioned
above,  note these examples:  IBM employees frequently post articles answering
queries in \USENET\ newsgroups such as \ngp{comp.unix.aix} and
X\ngp{comp.sys.ibm.pc.rt},  in
many cases without even a disclaimer; Wolfram Research accepts bug reports and
provides technical support for Mathematica via electronic mail;  Adobe Systems
solicits input via electronic mail from users and developers on desired  
capabilities  in  new printer driver software \footnote{Reference: 
X``New PostScript Printer Driver  for Macintosh from Adobe Systems'', 
article $<$4394\@adobe.UUCP$>$ in newsgroups comp.lang.postscript et al,
X24 July 1990.}.
X
The  existence  of  a  large  community  of HP machine users, programmers, and
systems administrators that HP could communicate with would foster  a  ``global
village'' style of interaction.  This interaction would benefit both parties by
the  dissemination of valuable first-hand information between the actual users
and HP engineers and management.  This information could be  used  to  improve
planning  for  the  needs  of the user community and the priorities of HP, and
would also promote better customer-vendor relationships.  The result would  be
increased sales and more widespread acceptance of HP machines.  
X
More  efficient  support  from  HP for academic and research customers through
network connections would be a step in  the  direction  of  the  microeconomic
reform  and the closer ties between industry and academia for which government
and business are calling world-wide.  
X
We believe that our Requests 2 and 3 can be satisfied by HP in accordance with
commercialism guidelines applying on the major publicly funded  networks.   If
it  transpires  that  network use by HP of the kind we are requesting requires
justification under the guidelines, then we will be happy to collaborate  with
HP in preparing a case for submission to the relevant network authorities.
X
X
X\section*{Disclaimer}
X
This document was written collectively,  and while all signatories support its
aims and general thrust,  not everyone is necessarily in complete agreement on
the  details of all points.  The views expressed are those of individuals, and
do not in general represent official policy of the institutions  or  companies
of  which the signatories are members.  (This should not be taken as a license
to discount those views, however: in the long run the individual views of computer
users and system managers tend to affect or even determine institutional
computing policy and purchasing decisions.)
X
X
X\section*{Conclusion}
X
X
We  applaud  the naming of HP's latest major computer line as the ``HP {\bf Apollo}
X9000 Series 400'',  and note with approval  that  the  sales  literature  gives
Domain/OS  equal weight to HP--UX, and the Apollo DN10000 as much prominence as
the  HP Model 635.  As Apollo users we are pleased to see this concrete illustration
of HP's commitment to the continuation and  flourishing  of  a  strong
Apollo Systems Division.
X
The  slogan  for the new HP Apollo machines describes them as the ``first workstations 
to combine the innovation of Apollo with the quality and  reliability
of  HP''.   We believe that at present your company's customer services combine
the conservatism of HP with the organizational  haphazardness  of  Apollo;  if
this perception continues, then all your other efforts may be in vain.
X
We hope that Hewlett-Packard will accept this critique in  the  same  positive
spirit  with  which  we have prepared it,  and will act quickly to fulfill our
three requests.  Individual replies are not expected:  indeed,  we  will  know
that  we  have  been heard when we see a response from HP as a news article in
X\CSA\ on the \USENET.
X
X\end{document}
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