Nekochan Net

"Starting on November 13, 2011, Fix Central downloads are available only for to IBM clients or relations with hardware or software under warranty, maintenance contracts, or subscription and support."

IBM was the last commercial Unix vendor to introduce this restriction.

Download AIX patches while you can.

"There is a planned server outage on Sat, 12 Nov 2011 from 6:00 p.m. to Sun, 13 Nov 2:45 a.m. Central Standard Time (CST). Fix Central may be unavailable during this time."

_________________

HP Visualize C3600 - PA-8600 552Mhz, 2.5 GB SDRAM, HP FireGL-UX, 74GB SCSI, HP-UX 11i v1

Well, this "accepted industry practice" rings a bell: http://forums.nekochan.net/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=16724127

I think the "industry" is killing its own propietary hardware and software using these "practices".

_________________
Indy R4400 150 MHz, 256 MB, Indy 24-bit, IRIX 6.5.22m/Debian GNU/Linux
Octane2 R12K 400 MHz, 1 GB, VPro V6, IRIX 6.5.30
IBM 44p 170 POWER3-II 400 MHz, 1 GB, Matrox G200 (GXT130P), AIX 5.3/Debian GNU/Linux
HP C3750+C3600 2GB, HP-UX 11v1/Debian GNU/Linux

... In related news Miscrosoft shares rose 0.01%

PymbleSoftware Pty Ltd is an official IBM reseller so see how that pans out.

R.

_________________
死の神はりんごだけ食べる

アレゲはアレゲ以上のなにものでもなさげ -- アレゲ研究家


J5600, 2 x Mac, 3 x SUN, Alpha DS20E, Alpha 800 5/550, 3 x RS/6000, Amiga 4000 VideoToaster, Amiga4000 -030, 733MHz Sam440 AmigaOS 4.1 update 1. Tandem Himalaya S-Series Nonstop S72000 ServerNet.

Sold:

Cortex ---> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cortex-th ... 11?sk=info
Minnie ---> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Minnie-th ... 02?sk=info
Book ----> http://pymblesoftware.com/book/
Github ---> https://github.com/pymblesoftware
Visit http://www.pymblesoftware.com
Search for "Pymble", "InstaElf", "CryWhy" or "Cricket Score Sheet" in the iPad App store or search for "Pymble" or "CryWhy" in the iPhone App store.

I think SGI (per their last official published policy) and OldSun had the right idea. Security patches always available, but restrict the other patches for a time to paying customers only. SGI of course had the "N-3" rule on overlays (later ignored), and Sun "offered" the patches to everyone the next time that Solaris was reved.

It kind of throws the argument for high-grade systems. Before it was "yes, you pay more up front, but then your ongoing costs are lower". Now that you have to pay many $$/year for "service" to get required updates everything needs to be recalculated. On a personal note I certainly haven't brought up things you can do with Solaris to anyone since Oracle changed to their $1k+/yr policy, which for a small business makes MS software cheaper after only a couple of years (though to be completely honest no one took me up on Solaris before - they were a bit leery of being stuck with something that required a "UNIX admin" to run rather than just the administrative assistant).

_________________
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

Systems available for remote access on request.

(single-CM)

i could not care less about, since before all the open source zealots creeped out of their sh*tholes and expected everything for free, it was well known practice that one have to pay for support.

_________________
no plan

open source <> no cost software
free patches <> free support

No plan.

_________________
Indy R4400 150 MHz, 256 MB, Indy 24-bit, IRIX 6.5.22m/Debian GNU/Linux
Octane2 R12K 400 MHz, 1 GB, VPro V6, IRIX 6.5.30
IBM 44p 170 POWER3-II 400 MHz, 1 GB, Matrox G200 (GXT130P), AIX 5.3/Debian GNU/Linux
HP C3750+C3600 2GB, HP-UX 11v1/Debian GNU/Linux

That's a very poor predicate.

On the contrary, people have been very conditioned to abysmal quality in software and even firmware. Patches are due diligence by the manufacturer to correct their original negligence. There's no basis whatsoever for additional charges for patch access. I can't believe you are defending paying for bugs. Constructing a paywall to corrections of negligence is unethical. Patches aren't "support", they are admissions of error to the original contract. You get your money ethically on upgrades or real support (i.e. phone time, case engineer assignment, consulting, etc).

But I guess even mighty IBM no more believes in it. Sad . IBM was for the longest while the exception. If you had the gear, you're in the clear. You could phone up and get AIX for a $50 media charge.

These antics are precisely why businesses have moved to Linux in droves and the commercial UNIX space is a small niche for large corporations that have big enough necks to not get strangled. What they inadvertently do is hurt small and medium businesses that placed trust in the vendor and don't want to be pissed on time and again just to have to pay more money to get what they originally thought they purchased. They also hurt communities like this one that add value to platforms at no cost (for example the best Firefox build on AIX is done by a hobbyist).

_________________
SGI Fuel, Indy R5k
IBM RS/6000 7006-42T, 7011-250, 7012-397, 7012-G40 (upgraded to 4x 200MHz PPC), ThinkPad 710TE vintage tablet, ThinkPad T400, various System X, NetVista 2800
Sun Ultra 27 Xeon Quad Core 3.20GHz, Sunblade 2500 Silver, SunFire V445
HP c8000

http://ps-2.kev009.com:8081/ - IBM Retro
http://www.kev009.com/ - Blog
Free Usenet access for comp.* heirarchy. Send me a message for posting access.

To start things off we need to be realistic. A build of Firefox, no matter how fantastic, adds little or no value to AIX for IBM. They sell servers, and servers don't really run Firefox. Case in point - how many "P"s have you bought direct from IBM? You care, sure, but most AIX users don't. And as far as "propping up the value of used POWER equipment and thus making them more attractive investments" - it doesn't work. IBM (along with most manufacturers) wouldn't mind in the least if the used equipment marketplace disappeared. To them it's only competition.

On the other hand there is a happy median. Look at MS - why do they give away so much software? Two reasons: first, if it's a market they're trying to move into or maintain a stranglehold on, and we can discount that. Neither IBM, nor Sun, nor HP Enterprise Systems are looking into moving into the hobbyist sector - there's no money in it. The second reason, the reason they've become so good about patch support (as well as the reason for MS Security Essentials), is because they have discovered that it looks really bad if they have lots of machines with bugs and exploits hanging around, providing fodder for bad news. It's this that so many "Enterprise" companies are forgetting. The chance of a major AIX botnet is small, but it does look bad. Provide security and "showstopper bug" patches free and you look good. I'm not sure about the medium-to-large business segment that IBM targets, but with the small companies I've worked with they tend to get service contracts for the essential software if they're affordable. Why? It's because they want to have someone to call up if there's a problem who can fix it. If they reserve other patches and the right to submit patch requests (provided they follow up on them) to paid service customers and then provide a sound pricing scheme they will get customers. They just need to show value.

_________________
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

Systems available for remote access on request.

(single-CM)

damn... that's really bad!

_________________
My Blog: linuxpowerpc.blogspot.com
***
GNU/Linux CRUX PPC (64bit) on IBM 9114-275

I just downloaded AIX 7 TL1SP1. I don't really see the restriction...

_________________
Originally Posted by Tommie
Please delete your post. It is an insult to all the hard work society has put into making you an intelligent being.

Like somebody at AMD said about a decade ago: Benchmarking is like sex. Everybody brags about it, everybody loves doing it and nobody can agree on performance.

Maybe they thought better of it.

_________________
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

Systems available for remote access on request.

(single-CM)

it seems they only postponed it

This is just another indication of how small-minded the idiot MBA's running our society truly are. Eventually their obssession with squeezing every centime possble out of anyone who comes within grabbing distance destroys the company. Goose, golden egg, all that.

As for those who claim it doesn't matter, real customers will not be inconvenienced and no one cares about hobbyists, verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

it really doesn't matter for IBM

I don't think anyone here necessarily thinks "it doesn't matter," indeed many points on this thread have been about how it may matter. IBM doesn't care, true, and that certainly is a offshoot of the short-term business focus now. Get as much as you can from those who are "locked in", then retire with a bonus. Heck, you don't even need to retire - companies are apparently leaping on you if you've failed at the likes of HP, IBM, or any other big-name outfit.

_________________
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

Systems available for remote access on request.

(single-CM)