Prev: is comp.unix.solaris dead ?
Next: Synchronize unix password with MS active directory
From: David Combs on 24 Jun 2010 20:46
Seems like sun has of recent years outsourced some/much?
of its phone question-answering service via outfits
such as eg HP.

And that Oracle is pretty clear on getting rid of
some of that.

(How much, I don't know. 5%? 20%? 60%? 100%?)

---

Doesn't seem to bright to me. Might have worked ok
up through Solaris 9 -- but this 10 is quite a different
beast, so much having been changed.

---

Now, what do YOU hear about layoffs?


David
From: David Combs on 24 Jun 2010 22:14
In article <i00u8e$d23$1(a)panix2.panix.com>,
David Combs <dkcombs(a)panix.com> wrote:
>Seems like sun has of recent years outsourced some/much?
>of its phone question-answering service via outfits
>such as eg HP.
>
>And that Oracle is pretty clear on getting rid of
>some of that.
>
>(How much, I don't know. 5%? 20%? 60%? 100%?)
>
>---
>
>Doesn't seem to bright to me. Might have worked ok
>up through Solaris 9 -- but this 10 is quite a different
>beast, so much having been changed.
>
>---
>
>Now, what do YOU hear about layoffs?
>
>
>David


MORE NEWS: This sunservice via outside vendors LAYOFFS is really HUGE.

Really sucks -- no way sun's own employees can pick up the slack,
especially I hear that they are held in reserve for the really
complex customer-problems. So now they'll have to be explaining
what a file is?

Considerable concern that Oracle-guy wants out of hardware, maybe
just let Fujitsu build the stuff. (rumor, of course) (the above
firing is not rumor, not anymore, it appears).

(Major question: then why the hell did he ever BUY Sun?)



======================== What, if anything, can we do?


(1) Luckily, Opensolaris is already separate. If he stops
funding them, then maybe WE SUN USERS can chip in?

(2) His main business is of course databases. WE could start
promoting POSTGRESQL in a really BIG way -- assuming that
it truly is as good as Oracle.

If doing that has any of its intended effect, then we
could cease that promotion, IF he kept Sun, sunservice,
etc going.

(QUESTION: anything written on how ruthless (or nice) Oracle has
been, so as to get a prediction of what we're up against?)


(3) What can we do to keep Sun producing keyboards with the control
key just left of the "A" key? (To me, that's a biggie.)

David


From: Thomas Maier-Komor on 25 Jun 2010 04:07
On 25.06.2010 04:14, David Combs wrote:
> (3) What can we do to keep Sun producing keyboards with the control
> key just left of the "A" key? (To me, that's a biggie.)
>

Oh yeah... I'm using a type 7 at work with a Windows laptop (no choice),
and it really gives me a comfortable feeling. It's not only the CTRL key
that has a better place beside the A, but also ESC being closer in
range, and backspace, too.

Now if there was a better way than switching keyboard layout to get
German umlauts, then I'd be completely happy. The compose-"-<letter>
variant on Solaris is awkward, complicated, and long, but it is very
flexible because it also supports all the other special characters.

If there was a way to set the blank key to behave as an umlaut prefix,
I'd be happy, but I've been searching the 'net for too long for such a
solution...

OTOH, with SPARC for the desktop being buried I have not much hope that
the type 7 will be available much longer. Maybe somebody else might jump
in and produce a similar keyboard. All the alternatives I have see
didn't really convince me...

- Thomas
From: David Combs on 25 Jun 2010 17:26
No followups on the idea of us *ALL* HEAVILY PROMOTING POSTGRESQL,
as the ONLY way we can get his attention?

Without that, I think there's NOTHING AT ALL that
we can do.

Not in a country where it's perfectly legal, even "democracy
promoting" for corporations to BRIBE politicians, where
it's not only legal but admirable to offshore our production
to potential (likely!) enemies -- whereas under other systems
doing so might well be called "treason".

If NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING counts here but the bottom-line,
then the ONLY power WE have is to impact that bottom-line.

If we do nothing, he just walks over us.

----

So I'm surprised there's been no FOLLUPS along these
lines.

David

From: Andrew L. on 5 Jul 2010 16:04
David Combs wrote:
> Seems like sun has of recent years outsourced some/much?
> of its phone question-answering service via outfits
> such as eg HP.
>
> And that Oracle is pretty clear on getting rid of
> some of that.
>
> (How much, I don't know. 5%? 20%? 60%? 100%?)
>
> ---
>
> Doesn't seem to bright to me. Might have worked ok
> up through Solaris 9 -- but this 10 is quite a different
> beast, so much having been changed.
>
> ---
>
> Now, what do YOU hear about layoffs?
>
>
> David

I haven't heard much on the layoff front, but know a few amalgamated
SFE's who've expressed displeasure in the cutting of their benefits, and
lack of clear long-term plans for them.

ie. No more vehicle allowance, seniority levels reset to zero, raise &
bonus freeze, etc.

Mind you this was shortly after the merger, hopefully things are looking
a bit brighter now. I suppose the lesser evil is benefits cutting over
outright layoffs?

- Andrew
 | 
Pages: 1
Prev: is comp.unix.solaris dead ?
Next: Synchronize unix password with MS active directory