🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Jan23.123005.337@rlgsc.com>, gezelter@rlgsc.com writes:
>In article <1jnl76INN62n@slab.mtholyoke.edu>, mcrowley@MtHolyoke.edu (Michael A. Crowley) writes:
>> Bill Rye (rye@scmbrd.dco.dec.com) wrote:
>>> It all boils down to legalities.  ...
>> 
>> I want patches online.  But I don't think they are as necessary
>> online as the information *about* the patches.

[stuff edited out]

> 
>To a large extent, this entire discussion gives me a sense of 
>"Deja Vue". Back before the beginning of time (about 5 years ago) 
>Digital published the "Software Dispatch", a publication received 
>by supported customers which included warning notices concerning 
>the various software products. Several years ago, this 
>information was extremely useful, often as a warning of potential 
>problems.
> 
>Beginning around that time, when machine readable update kits 
>started appearing, the content of the Dispatch started 
>dissipating. More and more articles took on the tone of "there is 
>a problem with XX, which is fixed at Autopatch D". Often no 
>diagnosis, no work around, no pathology, just a note that there 
>was a bug and that a purported fix was available. As you noted, 
>this level of information is, for many purposes, useless.
> 
>I would like to see a return to the days of the useable Dispatch, 
>even in an electronic form, which would provide warning of 
>problem before hitting them. The obscuring of product status (by 
>all of the manufacturers) is tremendously wasteful in time and 
>resources to the customer base.

[more stuff edited out]

I would like to see the patches show up on the cd-roms.  I just
got the January CD's and I presume they were put together in
December.  Surely all known patches to the products shipped on
the CD's could be put on as well.  If there's something which
requires a patch, and DEC knows about it, then they can't really
claim that the software is accurately described by the SPD which
IS shipped on the CD's.  I don't expect that the patches would be
already installed; instead, I think there could be another
directory in addition to [product.KIT], [product.LINE_DOCS], and
[product.POST_DOCS]: there could be [product.PATCHES].

				- Ed


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