Date:     April 2, 1996            Time:    16:01
From:    Jerry Lawson
    ITT Hartford Insurance Group
    (203) 547-2960    jlawson AT itthartford DOT com
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Greg Tevis  (or any other IBMer) - Perhaps you can help me understand this
Greg Tevis  (or any other IBMer) - Perhaps you can help me understand this
:-)>

I have come to notice that when you release maintenance through the FTP
server, it is not always available through the regular maintenance ordering
processes, such as IBM Link.  For example, the Win95 client and the Mac Power
PC version were both documented through this list as being available, but when
I check with IBMLink these two are both open.  The same holds true for some of
the Server maintenance, such as the MVS OE fixes of UN82453 - APAR II07777
mentions these, (dated January 24th), but they are still open as of April 2.

I usually prefer to order PTFs through IBMLink for several reasons - I have a
set of complete diskettes that I expect to be complete (not subject to my own
massaging); many of the clients have multiple diskettes (AIX seems to be at 26
these days), and when a mass release occurs, as it did last week, response is
slow, and access is difficult.  Don't get me wrong - I appreciate the FTP
server, and use it when it makes sense for me, but I prefer the "blessed"
methods for a production environment.

So where do I have problems?  Specifically with the apparent inconsistency of
maintenance being available here, and yet it is still marked as open in
IBMLink/HONE.  Are the PTFs, because they are open, still subject to update
and change?  It would seem that this process leaves open the possibility that
2 or more versions of a given level of code might be "released" because of
this.  Am I being paranoid?

*****************************************************************************
Jerry Lawson
ITT Hartford Insurance Group
jlawson AT itthartford DOT com