dave@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Dave Bloom) (11/17/87)
Just a comment, since the topic of conversation has been about
hardware/software upgrades. I'm not sure how it is elsewhere
in the world, but Pyramid's service techs here in Jersey are
the best I've seen of any manufacturer we are supported by.
I've seen DEC, ATT and SUN (we've had nightmares with all
three) and they can't compare with the responsiveness and ef-
ficiency of Pyramid. Their hardware folks seem truly concerned
about getting the job done.
I just wish their contract department would get their heads
screwed on and get us our damn PTFs!
seismo \ pyramid \ Dave Bloom
ihnp4!packard >!rutgers >!andromeda!dave Office: (201) 648-5083
allegra / hoxna / era@SCDPYR.UCAR.EDU (Ed Arnold) (11/19/87)
I'd like to second Dave Bloom's earlier comments about Pyramid's service. Our techs feel they were badly burned by DEC service, and I have, on a couple occasions, been less than impressed with Sun. Our experience seems to indicate that Pyramid is, on the average, certainly not worse than DEC or Sun. On the issue of software upgrade, one thing that Pyramid did which Sun never has done (my suggestion to Sun to get with the program on this, fell on deaf ears), was to put together their rls/rlscmp utilities that aid in locating site-specific customization. The Sun manuals blithely suggest that the system administrator make up a list of all files than have been added or changed, before starting an upgrade, but Sun provides no tools to do this. Since Pyramid provides stock system descriptions and tools that help one find mods & adds quickly, a busy sys admin (who can't possibly remember, or even keep a record of, all changes) doesn't have to put up with users calling for months afterward with problems related to file changes that didn't get carried forward after upgrade.