🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <175@bally.Bally.COM> dahl@bally.UUCP (Michael Dahl) writes:
>
>I am confused about the different ways to get help and report bugs for AIX.
>
>
OK -- I'm going to answer this in my "official" capacity as an IBM Systems 
Engineer. The following information is what I believe to be correct although
it has not been through any formal IBM review process (of which there 
undoubtedly is one). Please mail any corrections (no flames, just post those)
to me directly so I can humble myself all at once.

>Who do you call for technical support?

Technical Support:

	If you purchased your system directly from IBM, call the Marketing 
	Representative who sold it to you. They should put you in touch with
	the Systems Engineer at the local branch who is either responsible for
	your account or generally responsible for AIX systems. If you do not
	get satisfactory support from this individual, speak with his or her
	manager.
	
	Caution: Systems Engineers are *not* Unix gurus. If the one
	you are dealing with has a substantial amount of AIX expertise, so much
	the better. If not -- remember they're not supposed to have
	intricate knowledge of system internals. They will, however, know 
	how to find out virtually anything you need to know. This takes time.
	First they may have to understand the problem and then must bring it
	up through the layers of the IBM support. This can involve many
	electronic and real phone calls over a number of days. The keys here 
	are patience (I omit an explanation) and planning (don't expect a 
	very detailed problem or question to be resolved the next day -- plan
	in advance for what you will need to know and when you will need to
	know it).

	If you are part of a larger organization, e.g. a university, it may be
	that your interaction with IBM must be conducted through a local (to 
	your organization) support group. If you find out that your customer
	number is "not authorized for (software) service", this may be the
	case. Generally, your customer number will (for the duration of your
	warranty period and maintenance contract) always get you direct IBM
	hardware service.

	If you purchased your system from a dealer or other third party, call
	the person who sold it to you. When dealers sell machines, IBM pays 
	them money. This is for their sales *and support* efforts. If you do
	not get satisfactory support from a dealer, you should make this fact
	known in no uncertain terms to both the dealer and to the Marketing
	Manager(s) at your local IBM branch.

>Who do you call to report defects?

Defect Support (Bugs)

	Bugs are reported to IBM Defect Support at 800-237-5511. The first
	thing the operator will ask for is your customer number. This number
	is either on the invoice that came with your machine and/or software
	or available from your local IBM Marketing Representative.
	
	If you purchased your machine from a third party, you are still 
	eligible for IBM Defect Support for those components that are 
	supported by IBM. A customer number you may use with Defect Support
	should be provided by whoever sold you the system. For example, if 
	you purchased a Fourth-Generation FOO-Code generator as part of a 
	package that included AIX, don't call IBM if the FOO-preprocessor is 
	generating garbage C code. However, if the C code that is generated 
	compiles incorrectly, please do report the problem.

	This brings us to the distinction between Defect Support and Problem
	Determination. Using the FOO-Code generator example, your problem may 
	"just" be that an application elicits a "Bus Error -- Core dumped." 
	Generally, IBM Defect Support will not accept a problem until you can 
	provide a testcase that is reproducible in an IBM supported 
	environment. Anything before that point is one of problem 
	determination. Problem determination is a technical support issue (see 
	above).

>Who do you call to get fixes for reported defects?

	This is a technical support issue and should be refered to your
	Systems Engineer or (third party) vendor. Some people have suggested
	that you play games and call in "pseudo problems" with Defect Support
	and use that route to get the "latest fix diskettes". Remember Abigail's
	Advice: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you have a problem, call it
	in and, more than likely, the most recent patch level for that 
	component will be sent to you. Do not apply patches just because they
	are available. Regression testing of patches is very difficult and,
	invariably, they have tested all possible situations *except yours*.

	If there is a serious problem (e.g. system security or integrity
	problem), that information will be sent through the existing technical
	support channels. (See above).

>[...APARS vs. defects -- which is faster]

	APARS are "acknowledged defects". They may be fixed soon, they may be
	fixed later, they may not be fixed at all. The process for getting
	problems that are bothering you fixed is a technical support issue. 
	There are procedures for rattling cages up to amazingly high levels
	until a problem is resolved. Your Systems Engineer will work with you 
	and with the IBM Defect Support group to (hopefully) get things 
	resolved to everyone's satisfaction. Analogous paths exist for those
	who purchased their systems from third parties. 



David Luner
Systems Engineer
IBM Madsion
(608) 273-5243