RE: Genera 8.0 Announcement

[pan@Athena.Pangaro.Dialnet.Symbolics.Com (Paul Pangaro)]

    Date: Fri, 2 Mar 90 14:06 PST
    From: Swab@CHARON.arc.nasa.gov

    Dear Gary,

    >  Please note that in order to receive new software release distributions,
    >  all Symbolics systems at your site must be eligible to get the release.
    >  The Genera 8.0 distribution will not be sent to customers for whom any
    >  of their systems are ineligible, unless Symbolics has agreed in writing
    >  that such systems are "deactivated".

    The above note worries me...  Do we have any machines, or better still,
    does Symbolics think we have any machines that are not under maintenance?
    If so, I would like to be contacted now to resolve this instead of finding
    out in June that I didn't get 8.0 because one of twenty or so systems we
    have fell through the maintenance crack, or the paperwork just hasn't caught
    up yet, or someone ordered a MacIvory board without my knowing and has
    never placed it under maintenance, etc...

    Please clarify this for me and other concerned administrators.

    Thanks, Rod Swab  swab@pluto.arc.nasa.gov

I agree that is is an issue, given the past difficulties with
Symbolics service not knowing the state of service contracts,
large delays (> 3 months) in getting their paperwork updated, etc.

But, is the general policy really tenable? What do other vendors
do about this?

In any event Symbolics must be responsible for notifying *all*
sites that are in-eligible. Other opinions, users?

Best,
PANgaro