IHERSHMAN@VX1.GBA.NYU.EDU (Ittai Hershman) (04/10/88)
Kudos to DEC for getting the Security Update out in a timely manner this time around. A few comments, however: I was amused by the notes from NASA implying that details were available from DEC -- a week ago Thursday I received my first copy of the patch via Federal Express (more on this later) while a friend from a major NY bank was sitting in my office. Taken by surprise, we looked through the vague release notes, and then called CSC asking for more details; we were told that details were not available and the patch should be installed ASAP. I guess US gov't security clearance is a prerequisite... The first package I received was an RX-50 distribution for our u-VAXen: it was stamped for Friday delivery. The magtape distribution didn't arrive until Wednesday of last week. I understand from other folks in this area that TK-50 arrived Monday or Tuesday. If this is an accurate microcosm, it would seem that the floppies were the first to be produced, followed by TK-50's, with magtapes coming in last. It would seem to me, that a security patch should be sent in the reverse order. After all (sorry if I'm being a snob) the bigger machines -- like my 8700 -- are probably the machines with the most to lose and should therefore be targetted as the first to get patched. Finally, we too were bitten by the patch interfering with PHOTO (and possibly Eunice). I suspect it is linked to the TTDRIVER patch that was applied by the update. Perhaps the NASA folks can debug this for us, since they seem to have the info the rest of us are missing. :-) Oh, one more. I wanted to apply the patch right away, but the machine could not be bounced until much later that night. The VMSINSTAL script required a SHUTDOWN, but would not reboot the system automatically, I therefore had to break up the Backup saveset, modify the KITINSTAL.COM file, and reassemble it for VMSINSTAL. The bottom line here is that VMSINSTAL should prompt for at least two parameters: time before shutdown and automatic reboot. Sorry for the length, but I think these comments are useful feedback. On the whole, DEC, thanks for the fast response. -Ittai -------