>...
> Try not to shoot the messenger. I'm really just here to write
> the books....there are many others that handle the distribution and
> costs of the books. I assure you that they have heard input from
> us that some folks were upset that the books which were previously
> free are now charged for...gosh I do believe my append sounds too
> defensive. I didn't mean for it to sound that way....just trying to
> be honest with what's happening....
> Thanks,
> Cyndie Behrens
> ITSO - San Jose
> cbehrens AT vnet.ibm DOT com

I've been transported to the land of uh's: "Uh, where's the
documentation for installation? Well, it might be in the README file or
the INSTALL file or you might not have one." "Uh, where's the
documentation on how to invoke the program? Well, if the install went
without a hitch (ha), type man command. Huh?" "Uh, where's the
documentation on the error messages? There isn't any."

It might be nice to have free software, but you get what you pay for
and the documentation that IBM distributes is far and above what I've
seen for UNIX, reguardless of whether or not we paid for the code.

I've always wondered why some products generate lots of books on "How
to Use ..." and others (like VM) generate so few. Yes, the number of
copies has a say, but I believe the worse the documentation from the
vendor, the more you can sell on the open market. Just look at all the
UNIX books. ;->

I believe you get your best value from IBM documentation. They have
been doing it longer than just about anyone else.

Mark A. Stevens                           Phone:    708-235-2204
Systems Programmer & UNIX sys admin       Internet: xmas AT uxa.ecn.bgu DOT edu
Educational Computing Network             BITNET:   [email protected]
Board of Governors Universities           VMSHARE:  ECE/MARK