kent@happym (12/31/87)
I administrate a Unix system running on a Motorola 1131 box. We have had it for a year and a few months. Overall, it is a fine product. The hardware is of the best quality, well constructed and durable. The Unix V port (called V/68) is very good - I have R2v2.2 (SysV.2, Motorola's rev2.2). It has few major bugs, and I have successfully worked around all that I have found. Documentation is excellent - they have revised the AT&T set to account for implementation details, included a decent manual for the firmware and complete manuals for each board, as well as system manuals with all kinds of configuration info for hardware and software. However, I can't seem to get them to fix problems. I reported various bugs while the system was under warranty, got some wonderful promises, and nothing was fixed. Quite a while later, I made several dozen phone calls, got more promises, and nothing was fixed. Finally, I screamed very loudly, started using words like "lawyer" and "refund", and one thing got fixed. People then started asking me why I expected support when I hadn't bought a support contract, and I explained that I would buy one when they got around to honoring their warranty. I don't think that the company's staff are incapable of providing the support; indeed, I have found numerous people there who seem quite qualified and ready to help with some of the problems that I have brought to them. However, very little actually got done. The problem seems to be an organizational one. Nobody really knows who is supposed to do things, so very little actually happens. Most disturbing of all, to me, is that I have found nobody there who really knows the system. It seems a bit absurd that I know more about the system than their people do. When I call a company about their Unix system, I want to talk to somebody who knows Unix. While I have talked to people who know all about the compiler, or all about the i/o system and drivers, I have found nobody there who knows the overall system; nobody who knows Unix! I have talked to `engineers' and `programmers' who refuse to use Unix mail, and express doubt at the value of reading the net. Today, I was informed that Motorola "cannot afford the luxury" of having a Unix wizard, someone whose business it is to know everything about the system. This sounds a little strange to me. A quick inspection of Motorola's 3rd quarter report reveals net assets of over $5 billion, with sales for the first 3 quarters at just under $5 billion. Closer inspection reveals that the microcomputer division is losing money, and has been since its inception. It is difficult to tell just how much it is losing; the accountants hide the losses behind the tremendously profitable cellular phone group and do not disclose details. I wonder, however, whether investing $40k per year in a Unix wizard might not help them out? Maybe, in fact, there is such a person in the organization, and nobody knows about it. It is a little bit difficult for me to believe that there is not - somebody produced the high quality product that they sell. If so, if there is a Unix wizard hiding in Tempe or somewhere in Texas, or wherever, could he or she please call me or send mail? If not, perhaps you people at Motorola will give this some thought. Thanx. -- -- Kent Forschmiedt -- uucp: tikal!camco!happym!kent Happy Man Corporation 206-282-9598