jdarcy@encore.com (Jeff d'Arcy) (09/19/90)
As expected, I'm already getting flak from other sources within encore
(especially Customer Service), so I'll have to duck out of this thread
shortly. I've also been contacted privately by several customers, and
IMHO that mail has been very constructive. I'd like to see that sort
of communication continue, but I'd also like to point out a couple of
things:
1) What I post is my OWN opinion, not Encore's. As often as not
others within Encore take quite strong exception to my opinions.
PLEASE don't assume that my posts are anything other than the
ravings of a slightly deranged and more-knowledgeable-than-most
UMAX user.
2) I post and exchange email on my own time and as a private
individual. One of the reasons I maintain visibility is that
I enjoy talking to our customers, but I will not violate my
confidentiality agreements or intentionally intrude upon our
CS department's turf or that of our independent distributors
such as DISC.
3) Flames are not productive, and I will try to discourage them
despite the grief I get for doing so. We need to know how our
customers feel about our products, but posting criticism that
neither reveals new facts nor offers suggestions for improvement
is not very helpful. I've only seen a couple of such posts, so
don't feel that I'm putting down the usual content of the group.
In particular, I think that Gordon Irland's post was extremely
helpful and productive. Robert Claeson also contributes a lot
of very helpful material, as do others whose names escape me.
With that out of the way, I'd like to offer a suggestion just to see what
sort of reception it gets. I cannot change the way Encore does business,
but our customers can. People have suggested that we should publish a
bug list, and I've objected based on the inevitable "scariness" of some
OS bugs. How would people feel if Encore were to distribute a version of
the buglist, *knowing* that some of the scarier items had been omitted?
Would that be a sufficient demonstration of good faith? Remember that I
have nothing WHATSOEVER to do with whether such a plan gets implemented.
Please POST responses to the last paragraph above; email is more appropriate
for responses to the remainder.
--
Jeff d'Arcy, Generic Software Engineer - jdarcy@encore.com
Nothing was ever achieved by accepting realityrickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert) (09/20/90)
In article <jdarcy.653758452@zelig> jdarcy@encore.com (Jeff d'Arcy) writes: >With that out of the way, I'd like to offer a suggestion just to see what >sort of reception it gets. I cannot change the way Encore does business, >but our customers can. People have suggested that we should publish a >bug list, and I've objected based on the inevitable "scariness" of some >OS bugs. How would people feel if Encore were to distribute a version of >the buglist, *knowing* that some of the scarier items had been omitted? >Would that be a sufficient demonstration of good faith? Remember that I >have nothing WHATSOEVER to do with whether such a plan gets implemented. > I would like to see such a list. But ... I would also like to see the scary stuff. You could email it to me marked confidential, and I would be willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement on such confidential reports. It might prevent my wasting my time with problems that are already known. Who knows, maybe we could help Encore solve the problems more easily if we have some help from them. -- =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= Neil W. Rickert, Computer Science <rickert@cs.niu.edu> Northern Illinois Univ. DeKalb, IL 60115. +1-815-753-6940
cheever@sumax.UUCP (Richard L. Cheever) (09/20/90)
In article <jdarcy.653758452@zelig>, jdarcy@encore.com (Jeff d'Arcy) writes: > ... How would people feel if Encore were to distribute a version of > the buglist, *knowing* that some of the scarier items had been omitted? As sysadmin of an Encore at a small university I would appreciate such a list. Being familiar with known bugs however small or large, would save me time when a problem occurs. I could quickly compare symptoms of a problem to the list and at least be able to explain the nature of the problem and hopefully have a work around. Also, as a result of this news group, I've been getting help from a sysadmin at another, larger, university. I'ts real nice to be able to telnet to another Encore to see how something is configured there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Richard L. Cheever cheever@sumax.seattlue.edu (206) 296 5550 Seattle University, CIS 6th Floor Engineering, Seattle WA 98112-4466 "Contrariwise," continued Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be, and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic!" -- Lewis Carroll ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
lawley@cs.mu.OZ.AU (michael lawley) (09/20/90)
On 19 Sep 90 15:34:12 GMT, jdarcy@encore.com (Jeff d'Arcy) said: > How would people feel if Encore were to distribute a version of > the buglist, *knowing* that some of the scarier items had been omitted? A complete buglist would be best but even a limited one would be better than none at all. It would also be very nice to be able to submit bug reports electronically. mike -- _--_|\ michael lawley (lawley@cs.mu.OZ.AU). / \ The Unicycling Systems Programmer, \_.--.*/ Melbourne University, Computer Science v "You can't, really, dust for vomit."
ncrr@turing.newcastle.ac.uk (Chris Ritson) (09/20/90)
In article <jdarcy.653758452@zelig>, jdarcy@encore.com (Jeff d'Arcy) writes: >People have suggested that we should publish a >bug list, and I've objected based on the inevitable "scariness" of some >OS bugs. How would people feel if Encore were to distribute a version of >the buglist, *knowing* that some of the scarier items had been omitted? >Would that be a sufficient demonstration of good faith? I would like to see a full bug list. If need be it could be on paper, marked confidential, and I would see that it went only to a selected list of staff and was then either locked up or shredded if you wish. Chris Ritson (C.R.Ritson@newcastle.ac.uk)
tonyg@meaddata.com (Tony Gast) (09/20/90)
Give us everything down to the horrific. If we have bought the machine, we should know. As a previous poster mentioned, there can be work-arounds. Since these machines aren't exactly cheap, if somebody has one, they are not likely to go use it as a paper weight. As far as future customers are concerned, I think dealing well with current customers is a good investment. Tony Gast Mead Data Central
loverso@Xylogics.COM (John Robert LoVerso) (09/21/90)
In article <LAWLEY.90Sep20144101@murgon.cs.mu.OZ.AU> lawley@mullauna.cs.mu.OZ.AU writes: > It would also be very nice to be able to submit bug reports electronically. Perhaps this has changed, but at one point UMAX came with "ebug", which allowed SPRs (bug reports) to be submitted by email to ebug@encore.com. I used to use it all the time at Xylogics. The only problem was that there was never enough feedback on SPRs after they had been in the system a while. John -- John Robert LoVerso, Concurrent Computer Corp, loverso@westford.ccur.com [to reach me, not the corporate puppet: john@loverso.leom.ma.us] "Serve not your terminal, 'till it has served you well"