Making A request to IBM

[Robin Wilson]

In article <1991Mar23.144908.9009 at bellcore.bellcore.com> jona at iscp.Bellcore.COM (Jon Alperin) writes:
>1. What recourse do I have if I am trying to develop code for the RS/6000/AIX
>system, and am running into problems with cc,xlc,ld, etc. Most of the time,
>I cannot ship source code to IBM (I.E. proprietary information), but I am at
>a loss as how to get IBM to look at a particular problem. For example, I am
>working with a 2MB archive file (see previous postings..) and I am having
>problems with the linker. I can't very well send this archive file to IBM,
>and it would seem to me that level 1 and 2 support would not be able to create
>a 2MB archive file just to test out what happens during the link....

IBM has a real problem with proprietary source code.  Think about it from 
their perspective: "We are the world's largest computer company.  Everybody
wants to get us.  If we take your source code "to debug a problem", and at
some point in the future, we come out with a similar product....  Who do
you suppose will be accusing us of "stealing" their ideas?"

In most cases this will not happen; but if IBM "as a policy" accepts 
proprietary source code from other companies, it will show a precedence 
for the court cases that do occur, and leave IBM with its legal butt hanging
in the wind.

To get resolution on this problem you can take two approaches: 1) provide
defect support with a "non-proprietary" testcase that shows the problem.
2) Provide IBM a legal release from liability for using your proprietary
code to debug the problem.  The first method (for some reason) usually
is the prefered method to resolve the problem.  (Most customers just don't
like IBM having their source code.)


>2. When I call IBM and report a bug, I sometimes get a patch number. HOWEVER,
>it has been my experience that the patch often "fixes" more items than the
>one I was looking for. This is "great, until something that worked breaks",
>and I don't know where to look....Does IBM distribute just a single fix?
>How does one request just a single fix?

For right now, there is no way to get a 'single' fix; except for emergency
fixes.  (An emergency fix, is where there is no update available yet, but the
code has been fixed.)

Think about like this: IBM sends you a new xlc compiler.  2 months later, your
replacement (since you are really talented, and have moved up to management)
calls defect support and reports a bug in xlc.  How does IBM remember that you
got a special fix to xlc 2 months ago.  Now multiply the time by a factor of
years, and the number of fixes by a factor of thousands.  That would be a 
problem management nightmare.  Not to mention the people who get fixes from
"unsupported" routes.  (ie. my friend at "x" company got this fix, and gave it
to me, and I gave it to "y", "z", etc.)  Soon ther would be no way for the 
defect support people to know "what level" your code is at.  


>To be fair, SE's which I deal with usually attempt to handle problems, but 
>they deal more with the operating system itself (and its utilities), that
>with the low level programming parts. I am lucky enough to have access to
>people who know AIX fairly well, but more often than not I call Defect Support
>simply because I know that someone will be at the end of the phone, rather than
>an answering machine.

IBM markets classes, and provides assistance to companies porting code to the
RS/6000.  Here in Austin, they have a porting center for all companies trying
to move code from other platforms.  They also offer the "System Xtra" support
route, which provides a "single point of contact" for all RS/6000, AIX V3
questions/problems.  The System Xtra offering provides how-to, config, defect,
hardware, updates, everything support through a single 800 number.  The 
System Xtra people dispatch CE's, SE's, and provide on the phone assistance
for any type problems you might run across.


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