Greg
That trick won't wash. If you wish to make a point, you must be prepare to
defend it - or concede the field - this is a "list" after all!
I'm obliged to reject your thanks - I think in the spirit in which they were
offered as supported by the intention to pretend that the last word had been
said - since it was not my objective either to acknowledge or to support
what I understood to be your point.
Your point appeared to be that USS is correct usage for UNIX System Services
only because it is specified in the correct way in the header of APAR
OA12191. I can see this as simply the relevant support person - albeit an
IBM employee - imagined he was creating the correct text. But - as is so
easily seen from the UNIX System Services bookshelf - he/she was just plain
wrong.
It's clear that he/she felt obliged to provide the abbreviations for the
"affected users". It would have been better just not to have bothered.
It is evident from Steve Thompson's post that he was acquainting the people,
specifically support people, with whom he was conversing with the fact they
were misusing USS since he reported that they realised they had to agree
with him.
Well, the talk is of "acknowledgement and support" and in connection with
IBM support people, so, again with Steve's permission, I hope, I'll include
his text from a post on Tuesday, June 05, 2007 9:57 PM to avoid you having
to go to the trouble of searching the archives:
<quote>
And in an ETR I had open with IBM, they [the TCP group] had to agree that
using USS for Unix System Services was causing confusion when we also needed
to discuss USS [VTAM] while discussing OMVS...
Also, I recall seeing a non-published memo (internal, but not "IBM
Confidential") where someone in support was pointing out the ambiguity being
caused by Unix System Services being referred to by USS (when it is
specifically part of VTAM) for routing of support issues!!!!
</quote>
Where I will support you is in letting people use USS (if they must!) as a
way of avoiding the possibility of creating "typos" when keying "UNIX System
Services" in IBM-MAIN posts - and in talking to one another in whatever
context - so long as there is no possibility of ambiguity. Note that I am
supporting you in keying one or the other, not both as in your example APAR
text - which means, I guess, I'm finally not supporting you at all!
And I have to note you haven't been reading what I wrote carefully enough. I
only want people to *know about* the "IBM standard" and not *believe*
another "standard" exists.
Chris Mason
----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Shirey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
To: <IBM-MAIN@BAMA.UA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 5:47 PM
Subject: Re: The USS Heresy (was Patents, Copyrights, Profits, Flex and
Hercules)
Chris,
Thanks for acknowledging and supporting my point. Discussions on this
list are certainly not "official" IBM communications. I believe,
therefore, we should be as free to use USS as an abbreviation for Unix
Systems Services as the folks who write IBM's APARs. Freer, in fact.
I also believe that trying to encourage people to adhere to an IBM
standard when IBM doesn't just seems pointless. But it's not my
dog, so to speak.
My last post on this subject.
Regards,
Greg Shirey
Ben E. Keith Company
-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Chris Mason
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 6:11 AM
Greg
I see this is not the first time you have directed my attention to this
misuse of USS by the folk responsible for writing up APARs and PTFs.
There are "official" and "unofficial" documents. What you find on the
online
"bookshelves" and - I'm going to issue a challenge here - "announcement
letters" is, to my mind, "official". What you find anywhere else is
"unofficial" where nobody has bothered with what is "official" and with
what
might be ambiguous. This includes APAR/PTF text and red-whatevers -
since
others have appealed to redbooks for authority.[1]
Note what I quoted from Steve Thompson in my recent reply to Mark
Zelden.
[1] Actually the ITSO (redbook) locations have/had editors who really
should
be checking for official abbreviations and ambiguities.
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