[Info-vax] Please stop beating you wife! ( was Re: Silver lining? )

[Richard Maher]

Hi Sue,

> but could you please stop bad mouthing the engineers.

Excuse me? I have nothing but the utmost respect for most in true *VMS*
engineering, and for those few people left at the technical coal-face! I've
also dedicated over 25 years of my life to the evangelical crusade to bring
the true beauty of VMS to customers spread over four countries in industries
as diverse as Banking/Finance, Telecommunications, and Mining. (And I weep
at the thought of the Christian Mosers et al of this world being on the
market while HP/VMS limps on with the same top-heavy managerial disaster
that has been been screwing up for 20 years :-( But the clingers-on,
camp-followers, and quasi-management-leaches are a different story!

No, I think the true targets of my contempt and loathing within HP/VMS have
not in fact been cleverly concealed by my tact and subtlety, but rather that
it may just be convenient to paint what I have had to say as an unwarranted
attack on VMS Engineering.

Who knows, maybe more people read my posts than I thought? I'm happy to send
Ann the Director's cut in future if she's interested?

> They are
> a bunch of hard working people doing their best

Yes, I love mom and apple-pie too, and where's a flag I can wrap myself in?

> and they now avoid
> this news group because of your comments

"Now"? Haven't they been withdrawing their attendance for about five years?
Anyway I'm flattered, but I guess there's always gonna be a Precious and a
Dame Nellie Melba in evry organization that insist on only being approached
with due deference and decorum. But to coin a phrase "Who gives a shit?".
The DEC/Digital cult of personality and movie-stars has long since passed
its use-by date. Where are the grafters?

While I'm sure there are many here who'd rather fawn all over a B-grade
VMS-engineer in a sychophantic frenzy long before they'd listen to my crap,
there is also a select few who like to laugh their tits off every time I
hold a mirror up to the axe-deserving incompetence an ineptitude of VMS
middle-management. COV's a broad church; there's room for everyone. Having
said that, I'd much prefer that those doing the code had a life, clocked off
of an evening, and went home to their families and not give a second thought
for this gaggle of border-line personality disorders.

I tell you what though, if Precious, Nellie, and Co aren't up for slumming
it, why don't you get them to set up a couple of bloggs? I believe the
"Thought Leadership" tag has recently been released :-) or perhaps
www.fromtheashram.com?

> but your negative comments hurt the
> customers and the engineers.

Au contraire Sue, sadly what I say has meant little, it is the litany of
disasters that have been inflicted on the user-base by those in VMS
"management" who have some how been able to dodge any scrutiny,
accountability, and sanction for tha paast twenty years that is hurting
customers, engineers, and VMS!

Anyway, let's leave aside the (numerous) attacks on Richard Maher and these
bread-and-circuses that can only serve as a distraction. VMS is a BUSINESS,
a business that sadly has been failing for over 15 years :-( It's not about
people, it's about licenses and about dollars and about delivering a product
that people want to buy while not desrting the installed base that is paying
the bills. Turning that around is what's important!

On that note, what has been proven is that HP/VMS does not have a managerial
team in place that is capable of delivering on or growing what is
demonstrably the best OS on the market. I plead with all to let the Global
Financial Crisis and the EDS Merger be agents of change. There is still so
much dead-wood in VMS making the same poor decisions year after year; it's
time they had the opportunity to experience the real-world first-hand! It
simply cannot get any worse; untrained-gibbons delivering nothing but "what
the others are doing" except with crap performance and at a distance of 2 to
10 years is not a winning formula :-(

How big is the installed base Sue? *Why* won't you/HP tell us? We're all up
for a challenge and VMS can still be turned around, but *not* while you're
all still in denial about being able to distinguish your arse from your
elbow when it comes to knowing what VMS customers really want! Will it still
be green-screens and FTP in five years Sue?

> If you do not like me or my
> comments then please deal with me but

Sue, I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. Everyone else hear appears to
know exactly who you are and what you do at HP but I don't. We did meet
briefly once in London and I recall that you yourself said that you weren't
from the technical side of VMS but you're obviously a passionate advocate
and tireless worker. I also don't recall you being in "Management" either
but maybe that's changed? Either way, I'm always up for a chin-wag, but I'll
continue to level my criticisms at whoever and whenever I please thanks very
much!

Regards Richard Maher

"Sue" <susan_skonetski at hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1d19095e-9074-44d9-bff3-040afe4f27a6 at x16g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
On Jan 7, 6:29 pm, "Richard Maher" <maher... at hotspamnotmail.com>
wrote:
> Hi JF,
>
> > invaluable! However, given today's economic status and realizing that
> > many companies are restricting travel including HP, we find ourselves in
> > a position of having to cancel this year's OpenVMS Boot Camp.
>
> On the up-side, just think about all that extra "free time" that the
HP/VMS
> speakers, presenters, and the attendees now have on their hands. Hey, is
> that a "CRON Scheduler for VMS" project I hear starting up? But who on
earth
> would be willing to head-up such a valuable and worthy project? Chance to
> give EDS a guernsey? Last time I looked they also had their
full-complement
> of navel-gazing wasters.
>
> > I wonder if HP might replace this with travelling presentations (if
> > people can't afford to travel, perhaps get Sue and a few enginers to
> > travel to people).
>
> Or they could just come out of their ivory towers and use the bloody
> internet like everyone else! Ooh and face unpleasantness and unsavoury
> characters; surely they'll bruise?
>
> Depemds whether you're trying to communicate with the user-base or control
> what the user-base has to say to your manager, I suppose.
>
> NDA my arse!
>
> Regards Richard Maher
>
> PS. If you got a copy of Sue's last "VMS Update" then I'd be curious to
see
> that as well.
>
> "JF Mezei" <jfmezei.spam... at vaxination.ca> wrote in message
>
> news:0050a3de$0$4649$c3e8da3 at news.astraweb.com...
>
>
>
> > I got an email from Sue, and it hadn't been posted here yet. Hope Sue
> > won't mind my posting it here.
>
> > From: McQuaid, Ann
> > To: Skonetski, Susan
> > Cc: Herman, Wendy
> > Subject: boot camp
>
> > Hello Boot Camp Attendees,
>
> > As you know, the OpenVMS team prides itself on conducting the very
> > highest quality Technical Training in the industry, allowing for a
> > collaborative exchange of information and ideas with Customers and
> > Partners around the world. There is no doubt that the knowledge shared
> > and the personal connections made during these face-2-face events is
> > invaluable! However, given today's economic status and realizing that
> > many companies are restricting travel including HP, we find ourselves in
> > a position of having to cancel this year's OpenVMS Boot Camp.
>
> > As always we greatly appreciate your business and welcome your calls and
> > emails.
>
> > Ann McQuaid
> > General Manager
> > OpenVMS, Tru64, Alpha & MCBS Customer Programs
> > Hewlett-Packard Company
> > ann.mcqu... at hp.com<mailto:xxxxxxxxxxxx... at hp.com>
> > Admin: Susan Christie
> > 598-467-9999
>
> > ------------------------------------
>
> > I wonder if HP might replace this with travelling presentations (if
> > people can't afford to travel, perhaps get Sue and a few enginers to
> > travel to people).
>
> > In terms of Mrs McQuaid's title, does anyone know what MCBS is ?
>
> > Does her title really mean "General manager of mature technologies" ?-
Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Richard,

I do not know where you have ever met the VMS engineers that have left
such a bad feeling, but they certainly do not live in Ivory towers and
they certainly have done their best to work with customers for the
last 32 years.  If there is a specific problem that you have lets have
it out but could you please stop bad mouthing the engineers.  They are
a bunch of hard working people doing their best and they now avoid
this news group because of your comments.  If you do not like me or my
comments then please deal with me but your negative comments hurt the
customers and the engineers.

Sue