From: karl@ddsw1.mcs.com (Karl Denninger)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.sysv386
Subject: Re: >>An example of Dell's product support (Esix here I come...)
Summary: Hmmm.... interesting how I happen to be printing on one!
Date: 22 Jul 92 19:34:53 GMT
Organization: Macro Computer Solutions, Inc., Chicago, IL
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                the poster and does not represent MCSNet or the system owners.

In article <fluet.711428210@ee.ualberta.ca> fluet@ee.ualberta.ca (Kevin Blaine Fluet) writes:
>donn@dellunix.dell.com (Donn Baumgartner) writes:
>>Bull.  Dell neither makes nor sells the HP LJII (with Postscript+ cartridge),
>>nor did we make the cable your using... so your complaint is unjustified.
>
>>We use a postscript printer in our lab and it works fine... when it's all
>>hooked-up and set-up correctly.  So you most assuredly are not hooked-up
>>or set-up correctly.  AND IT'S NOT DELL'S PROBLEM that someone else's printer
>>and cable doesn't work with our machine/software.  We have no obligation or
>
>Thank you Donn for helping me make a decision with regard to which UNIX to 
>buy.  Dell's Unix doesn't work with an HP LaserJetII (probably the most 
>popular laser printer on the planet Earth) and "it's not Dell's problem".
>Way to change a guy's opinion of a company in a single sentence!  Boy, and
>to think I had my heart set on Dell (I called just this morning for exact 
>pricing as a matter of fact).  Esix/Everex, here I come...
>
>fluet@ee.ualberta.ca

I just >have< to jump in here......

Considering that it >isn't the printer or the OS< which is involved here.....

You see, I quite happily print with Dell SVR4 and a HP Laserjet, and a OKI
dot printer, and a few others.  

I can print from both my Unix system and from the PCs in the house.  Both
have no problem with either Postscript or HP mode.  I run several hundred
pages a week on a slow week through both printers; sometimes I go through
upwards of two toner cartridges in a week.  Never had a problem.

I don't understand the original poster's problem at all.

I have successfully used lp and PLP (an LPR/LPD replacement which I happen 
to like very much for a number of reasons) with Dell SVR4.  No problems 
with either.

Also consider that HP has some damn strange serial options (assuming 
you're running a serial port here) like that screwey "Robust XON" -- that 
>will< screw up line printer interfaces!  Then there are cable issues; it 
is somewhat tricky to get a proper interface cable for laserjets, especially 
on serial lines (they have strange ideas on handshaking signals).

The >first< thing to do is RTFM (installation manual Dell ships here), the 
second is to get the SVR4 administrator's book (order it from Dell or your 
bookstore), the third is to READ THE PRINTER MANUAL (especially anything
which HP makes if you're going serial; they are STRANGE!) and >THEN< bitch 
if you can't figure it out.  But if you do the first three you'll not likely 
need to bitch, seeing as the cited references have plenty of answers if 
you look.

To the person who is thinking of bundling DELL SVR4 with their products:
	If you don't know your way around an operating system well enough to
	understand the basics of configuration (and printers are certainly
	basic) then what the heck are you doing in the market performing
	that service???  It is >not< a big deal to write a shell script to
	do the lp backend for a printer; perhaps a dozen lines of /bin/sh
	code?  I love "consultants" like this, as I make lots of money off 
	their installations after they're "finished".

To the people who think that DELLs support is problematic:
	I don't know about that.  You see, their product is stable enough 
	in my environment (which experiences VERY heavy use) that I just 
	haven't had to call support.  NOT EVEN ONCE.  That's about the best 
	statement one can make about a support department -- they did the 
	QA/QC BEFORE they shipped to you, so you don't get to do it for them.
	I rather like it that way.  
	
	Neither ISC nor SCO EVER got that kind of compliment from me in the 
	7+ years that I sold one or both of them.  Neither ISC nor SCO was
	nearly as compatible from a porting standpoint either.  In these
	areas, DELL SVR4 is a dream to work with.
	
	If you really want to deal with support departments, go ahead.  I 
	prefer product that works out-of-the-box.

--
Karl Denninger (karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM, <well-connected>!ddsw1!karl)
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