Re: [SPAM] Re: no more cume dvd via sndptford?

[Brian <system.i.lists@xxxxxxxxx>]

Jim,

Glad you were able to get your order in. I guess I've been lucky in that
I've not had the problem with IBM's software support you experienced.
Granted, I've only had to order PTFs through software support a couple of
times and it's been awhile back but my experience was much different. :)

Sounds like you still have some issues with your PC that might can be
cleaned up to make working with fix central more pleasant. Like other's have
posted, I usually place my order and opt for the FTP download, fire up a
batch FTP script to download the images to the IFS, add them to to an image
catalog and apply. IMHO, a very efficient process that is handled mostly
unattended. I always select the options to include all prerequisites and
reorder PTFs that are already on the target system so that I can use these
images on another system if necessary but you could forego these options to
make the download smaller.

It may be pie in the sky thinking, but by using fix central and downloading
the images instead of having the physical media delivered, I think I'm
saving IBM some money on software maintenance costs. In turn, these
savings can be used to fund additional features, applied to the bottom line
of System i revenue, or defer an increase in price for software support.
Having said that, I wish IBM would use some of it to increase their
bandwidth. Recently, I've had to modify my download script to connect,
download one image, disconnect/reconnect, download next image, etc. due to
timeouts when trying to download all the images in one connection.

Kind regards,

BJ


On 1/25/07, Jim Franz <franz400@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > Last time I checked, you could still order the cume directly from
> software
> > support at 1-800-426-7378 (option 2).
> Brian,
> Thanks - i did get thru the Fix Central problems. Total effort to place
> one
> order for cume
> and another order for groups  (can't combine them, and had to clear cache
> and end
> IE between orders) was an hour.
> My last call to Support for ptfs, more than a year ago, I had to explain
> (to
> someone who did not
> understand English very well) what a "ptf" was so I could order them.
> For all the above reasons, I loved SNDPTFORD, and next time will make the
> download process work for me.
> jim