CD-ROM delays (was Re: CD-ROMs from DECUS)

[Rice Don D]

In article <900911232254.00001A14 at MARVIN.CTSS.CO.UK>, VERKADE at CTSS.CO.UK (Herman Verkade) writes...
>While on the subject of CD-ROMs: What is going on within DEC? In the UK they
>started advertising CD-ROM distributions for VMS in October last year. It took
>them until June this year to get me changed from tape to CD. Three weeks ago,
>I got the VMS microfiche update with a nice letter stating that they are now
>also available on CD-ROM. I phoned DEC and nobody knows a thing about it.
>I have given them the order numbers in the letter, I even faxed them a copy
>of what they had been sending out and still no reply what-so-ever. Is DEC
>really committed to CD-ROM or are they just trying to impress people with
>advertising stuff they haven't got?
> ...
>Herman Verkade
Interesting.  I'm still waiting for DS5000s to show up (we've gone from "next
month" to "next week" to "any day now").  The last excuse for delay was that
we had ordered Ultrix on CD and the CD-ROM drive, and they were unavailable.
The order was then broken up so that we would presumably get everything but the
CD stuff in short order.  So I've tried to find out just what we can expect.

So far I haven't been able to determine whether it was the Ultrix CD or the
drive that was being delayed...doesn't really matter, since we can't use one
without the other.  No estimate of how long a delay we're in for, just "not
very long, probably."  The only definite answer I got was that we wouldn't
see the Ultrix 4.0 docs anytime soon because they were currently out of
stock.  Whenever the workstations show up we will have the choice of
borrowing Ultrix 4.0 without docs from DEC, or borrowing Ultrix 3.1 and docs
from other users on campus, via TK50.

I'm hoping that this is just another short-term supply-line snafu, and not
a more fundamental problem like the infamous DEC DAT.  I don't know of anyone
using the SCSI CD-ROM in the Ultrix environment, so I hope I haven't bought
into a vapor product.  Perhaps somebody at DEC could let us know?

Don Rice                                  Internet: fnddr at acad3.fai.alaska.edu
Geophysical Institute                     E-mail:   fnddr at alaska.bitnet
University of Alaska                      Phone:    (907) 474-7569
Fairbanks, AK 99775                       Loran:    64.86N 212.16E
"How bad is it?"  "It's sooo bad, we're ordering a Sparcstation. Really. Sigh."