From: sip1@ellis.uchicago.edu (Timothy F. Sipples)
Subject: Re: The Confusions of ALL OS/2 UPDATES
Reply-To: sip1@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: Dept. of Econ., Univ. of Chicago
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 23:16:10 GMT

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In article <BxIxvE.MEI@ccu.umanitoba.ca> umnoor@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Nasir Ahmed Noor) writes:
>I am sure there will be a good many number of OS/2 users who are totally 
>confused by all the floods of updates. CSD, udpate packages, DLL updates
>etc etc. If IBM wasn't sure of bug fixes, why did they released it in the
>first place? Also, why there is no official notification of updates ?

Since you have access to the Usenet, you have a tremendous resource
which can help you understand OS/2.  Many people here are happy to
help.

IBM has essentially three tiers of software updates: ad hoc patches
(those DLLs, individual files, etc, that float around), CSDs (Service
Paks), and major updates (e.g. OS/2 1.3 to 2.0).

IBM will only notify you, in writing, about the last of these three.
IBM will notify you, electronically, of the first two, provided you
have access to one of the official support forums (e.g. CompuServe,
IBMLink).  You'll also hear about them through the Usenet and BBSes,
I'm sure, which is obviously what prompted your post.

Ad hoc patches should be considered beta code and should not be
applied unless you have a specific problem that needs to be addressed.
CSDs (Service Paks) are somewhat similar, but they are considered much
more robust, and are production code updates to production code.  If
you have a mission critical machine which is operating smoothly, you
should probably leave it alone.  Otherwise it is safe to apply the
CSDs/Service Paks.

There are also beta programs, but that does not involve production
code, so I'll leave those programs aside.

Note that ad hoc patches should not be applied if those patch files
contain dates earlier than the ones on your system (unless otherwise
instructed).

>There also seems to be a lack of guidance for novice users like myself.
>I was browsing thru the directories of hobes and found that there is a 
>whole dirctory filled with updated and fixes. No who is to tell that which
>one are for which problem and which ones are really worth applying. 

No one on ftp-os2.nmsu.edu, since ftp-os2 does not provide advice per
se.  It provides files, which may or may not contain advice.  For
advice you should consult the newsgroups, like this one.

Let's put this another way.  People use software, including OS/2, in
many different ways.  If you are not experiencing a problem, does it
particularly matter that there are files out there somewhere in the
world which purport to fix problems you aren't having?  When you do
have a problem, then you go out and seek advice (through the
newsgroups) and, if necessary, the actual files.

Some people are almost religious about having the latest version of
something.  But they shouldn't be.  If it doesn't work right, or well
enough, then one should be concerned.  Otherwise, happy computing!

>Then there is new CSD. What does it do any way. Every day there are a few
>reports on usenet that problems/performance got worse after applying CSD.
>Now who is to ask about that? What problems does it fix and when is it
>worth applying...????

The CSD (and most of the ad hoc patches, for that matter) comes with a
README file which explains who should apply it, what it does, and how
to apply it.  So I would start there.

To expand on the README a bit, the Service Pak (CSD) adds a couple new
features (Tseng 4000 SuperVGA drivers, notably) and corrects a lot of
bugs (listed in the file SPAPAR.ZIP).  If you are happy with OS/2 2.0
XR02000 as it stands, don't apply it.  If you have reason to apply the
Service Pak after you've read the README and SPAPAR.ZIP, go ahead.

Reports on Usenet obviously accentuate the negative, simply because
the only posts made to the Usenet involve problems.  If you don't have
a problem, you're computing and not posting to the Usenet.  (There are
some exceptions.)

-- 
Timothy F. Sipples      | Read the OS/2 FAQ List 2.0g, available from
sip1@ellis.uchicago.edu | 128.123.35.151, anonymous ftp, in /pub/os2/all/info
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of Chicago, 60637       | [Read the List, THEN post to ONE OS/2 newsgroup.]
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