[comp.unix.ultrix] Ultrix 3.0 announcement

casey@admin.cognet.ucla.edu (Casey Leedom) (09/06/88)

Reply-to: casey@admin.cognet.ucla.edu (Casey Leedom)


In article <55481@felix.UUCP> francus@pernod.dec.com (Yoseff) writes:
> Casey, I would have responded to the above before, but had to wait until
> Ultrix 3.0 was announced. It has the 4.3 BSD upgrades...

Yoseff,
  Thanks for the reply.  I'm very much heartened by your news of 3.0 and
the enormous announcement letter later in this group describing 3.0.  It
looks very good.  I'll fire up a purchase order immediately.  I'm really
happy to see these new features and glad to hear of the committment at
DEC to make Ultrix World Class.  Bravo!

> From what I understand, SUN has a relatively small Software Support
> organization and charges a lot for a software support contract to
> discourage people from buying software support.  Since, I work in
> Corporate Software Services for Ultrix, I can tell you that DEC is
> actively (very actively) training their support organizations in Ultrix;

  If I remember right, I amplified this point slightly with examples of
my experience with both software support groups.  I've actually had Sun
support send me binary patches via email when we uncovered a problem,
with a promise that the fix would be in the next release of the OS.

  I wasn't aware that Sun charged inordinate prices for their software
support (if they do) since I wasn't connected with the procurement of the
support (it was already in place when I started the job).  I do know that
I was glad to have the kind of support they provided.

  In any case, I'm glad to hear that DEC is sponsoring a major software
support training program.  You've definitely got my vote that this is an
important priority.

> I obviously can't deny or confirm rumors.

  I know that you can't say anything yet about those rumors.  I just hope
they're true. :-) Seriously, with 10MIPS machines working their way below
the $25K mark, the market for the 4MIPS to 15MIPS system is getting
extremely tense.  DEC needs to address that market.

  In any case, I hope we all get to hear happy news soon from the DEC
systems maternity ward. :-)

Casey