bhilden@druxj.UUCP (HildenbrandBE) (02/20/85)
I am reporting the results and replys I received from my query as to the status of DEC service at other sites around the world. The comments were about 50/50 as to whether the site was pleased or displeased with their present DEC service. It is interesting to note that most sites that reported favorably were running 4.xbsd UNIX and not system V as we do here in Denver. Seems that "bsd" does a much better job of saving state when a machine goes down. This brings me to my next point. The purpose of my original posting to net.general was to vent my anger at the DEC service management not at our particular on-site personnel. As I said before, they do a good job but there are certain instances where they fall short. The reasons, I feel, are not due to lack of technical ability but more so the lack of good support from DEC management. Sure, system V UNIX clobbers some valuable registers for debugging and many of DEC's diagnostics do not run under it. This is not the on-site personnel's fault, it is the fault of DEC management who has yet to fully commit to supporting an operating system that is used on a portion of its machines and develop support tools for system V. Also, the situation of not escalating the problem is directly related to DEC management's scheme for escalating problems. As I understand the system, if a local office cannot solve the problem, when they call in the next line of defense,i.e. the regional office, the local DEC office must pay for the regional office's time. Given a situation like the one described above it is understandable that DEC service does not escalate problems as quickly as we would sometimes like. Again, this seemingly ridiculous method of escalation is not the on-site personnel's fault but rather the fault of the management. Unfortunately, and I should really have expected this, my article was misinterpreted by some readers as an all out attack on our on-site DEC service personnel. As I said before this was not my intent and I would like to publically apologize to all those here at Denver who were adversly affected by my posting. Bruce Hildenbrand ihnp4!druxj!bhilden