beverly@ai.cs.wisc.edu (Beverly Seavey) (03/30/89)
We are in the process of setting up a Xenix system. University purchasing insists that we buy from the vendor that offers Xenix at the lowest price, unless there is a real difference in what you actually get. The price quotes that we are getting from three different companies cover a price spread of $300. I was wondering if the different was in quality of tech support. Does any one have any comment on the quality of tech support from SCO, Government Technical Service, or Egghead, or is the actual tech support through MicroSoft? .
ked@garnet.berkeley.edu (Earl H. Kinmonth) (03/30/89)
In article <7377@spool.cs.wisc.edu> beverly@ai.cs.wisc.edu (Beverly Seavey) writes: > > We are in the process of setting up a Xenix system. University > if the different was in quality of tech support. Does any one have > any comment on the quality of tech support from SCO, Government ----------------------------------------------------| I can only speak to this. You pay a premium price for SCO, but you get a premium product. You also deal with real people who tell you their names and who, in my experience, will go out of their way to help you. Although, I cannot say that every call to SCO results in instant satisfaction, they DO FOLLOW UP, and when they (or even one of their vendors) screw up, THEY MAKE GOOD. My comparative reference is NBI (does anyone know what NBI stands for other than incompatability and ripoff pricing?) My department pays $7500 per year to NBI for "service" that can only be described with obscenities. (For example, the documentation for the communications software on our NBI is dated 1981!) SCO may not always please you the first time around, but it is my experience that have a very strong sense that they owe the purchaser something and WILL deliver it. I cannot say I get this sense from other vendors who often seem to operate as though they were doing you a favor by (pardon the term) jerking you off. E H. Kinmonth, Hist. Dept., Univ. of Ca., Davis Davis, Ca. 95616 916-752-1636/0776 Disclaimer: This is AmeriKa! Who needs a disclaimer! Internet: ehkinmonth@ucdavis.edu cck@deneb.ucdavis.edu BITNET: ehkinmonth@ucdavis UUCP: {ucbvax, lll-crg}!ucdavis!ehkinmonth {ucbvax, lll-crg}!ucdavis!deneb!cck
dyer@spdcc.COM (Steve Dyer) (03/30/89)
In article <22314@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> ked@garnet.berkeley.edu (Earl H. Kinmonth) writes: >My comparative reference is NBI (does anyone know what NBI stands for >other than incompatability and ripoff pricing?) NBI stands for "Nothing But Initials". (I'm not making this up, you know...) -- Steve Dyer dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer dyer@arktouros.mit.edu
rk@unify.UUCP (Ron Kuris) (04/01/89)
I'm not sure if I would go with SCO so quickly. I've placed two
calls to their sales force and got placed on hold for a while.
Finally, I got an operator and left a message. I never heard from
them even after two calls. And all I wanted to do was buy an OS...
My previous experience with SCO has been reasonable, however. Maybe
they are getting too big.
--
Ron Kuris (916) 920-9092
rk@unify.UUCP
{{ucdavis,csun,lll-crg}!csusac,pyramid,sequent}!unify!rkked@garnet.berkeley.edu (Earl H. Kinmonth) (04/01/89)
>NBI stands for "Nothing But Initials". (I'm not making this up, you know...)
Gee, I would of thought this stood for "Nothing but Idioacy." Some
examples. Do a search for a pattern in a 500 page manuscript. If the
pattern happens to be in the last line of 499th page, the software will
show you each line, each page until the match! (Talk about going to the
laundromat and watching your shorts in the dryer....)
Naturally, the authors of the editor have never heard of making a copy
of the text, and editing it. With NBI, it is ultimate WSIYIG. There is
no buffer, and no backup copy. Perhaps the teminology should be
WUFUIWUG.
(HINT: F stands for a common Anglo-German obscenity pertaining to
hetrosexual intercourse.)
One of our secretaries came to me last week. She was certain that since
there were Norton Utilities on her "MSDOS" NBI work station, she would
be able to recover a trashed file. I had to spend a half hour (which I
should have billed to NBI) explaining that NBI had such a schlock
product that they could only make money by selling proprietary disks,
not by competing head on with other software firms....
Talk about a company that offers you "conversion software" between NBI
format and MSDOS format for $xxxx.xx that takes 10-15 minutes to
convert a xxK file, removing all format commands. For $xxxx.xx, they
sell you a program that does NOT remove the format commands. In other
words, they charge you MORE for the simpler program! At last check,
they diddled you $1800 for a program that would give you a binary
version (what I want) of the file.... Maybe there's something special
about NBI hardware, but under **IX I would write (not considering
effiency)
while((cx = getc(ifp)) != EOF) putc(cx,ofp);
Anyone who wants to send me $1800 for this piece of software
brilliance, can send their payments in/care of Wells Fargo, Davis,
California, 95616.
Talk about a company that charged the better part of a grand for a UDS
Modem (hey kid, you want to buy an Edsel?) and some of those dumbest
software this side of a beginning Basic Class....
Every so often, I see a posting where someone actually lists their
address as NBI (albeit with disclaimer). Maybe others have had better
experience with NBI, but from my perspective, to indicate that you work
for this outfit in your signature is rather like admitting that you
have to register with a parole board....
Disclaimer: I plan on being in England next year, so you'll have to sue
my arse off.... Or, as the natives say, "When in doubt, bugger out!"