From: SMTP%"RELAY-INFO-VAX@CRVAX.SRI.COM" 4-MAY-1993 19:14:53.00 To: EVERHART CC: Subj: biz.dec: FAQ From: rjones@pa.dec.com (Russ Jones) X-Newsgroups: biz.dec,comp.sys.dec,comp.unix.ultrix,comp.os.vms Subject: biz.dec: FAQ Followup-To: biz.dec Date: 4 May 1993 18:05:43 GMT Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation Lines: 400 Distribution: world Message-ID: <1s6b9n$9sv@usenet.pa.dec.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: raptor.pa.dec.com To: Info-VAX@KL.SRI.COM X-Gateway-Source-Info: USENET This is the Frequently Asked Questions posting for biz.dec. It addresses questions related to interaction with Digital Equipment Corporation. It is also posted on comp.sys.dec, comp.unix.ultrix and comp.os.vms, but it is not a full FAQ for any of those newgroups. biz.dec is Digital's newsgroup for posting business information on products, services, significant contracts, organizational announcements, cooperative marketing agreements, alliances, seminars, promotions, etc. The newsgroup is organized so that you can establish a "kill" file for articles that are not of interest to you. All postings are organized along the following lines: Subject: DECnews/... Digital Press Releases Subject: Fact Sheet/... - Supporting Fact Sheets Subject: Backgrounder/... - Supporting Editorial Backgrounders Subject: Partner/... Press Releases from Digital's Partners Subject: Seminar/... Seminars offered by Digital Subject: Promotion/... Sales Promotions offered by Digital This FAQ is available as /pub/DEC/dec-faq/decinfo on: gatekeeper.dec.com crl.dec.com decuac.dec.com It can also be obtained by sending mail to ftpmail@gatekeeper.dec.com with the following lines: connect get /pub/DEC/dec-faq/decinfo To make suggestions for changes or additions to this Frequently Asked Questions list, send mail to decinfo-faq-request@pa.dec.com. ===================================================== 1. Where can I find online product information? 2. How can I get press releases? 3. Does Digital have a UNIX Newsletter? 4. Does Digital have a FAX Server? 5. What are the phone numbers for Digital? 6. Can I order products Electronically? 7. How do I subscribe to the Digital Technical Journal? 8. How can I try out an Alpha AXP System? 9. How do I send mail to Digital employees? 10. Where can I get technical information on the DECstation family? 11. Where can I get performance information? 12. Where can I get copies of the DEC Software Product Descriptions (SPD)? 13. How can I get detailed information on the TURBOchannel? 14. What third-party hardware can I get for the TURBOchannel? 15. Why can't I submit a bug report by electronic mail? ===================================================== 1. Where can I find online information? Online product information is accessible via the Internet. The available information spans a diverse range -- information sheets, technical overviews, performance summaries, brochures, software product descriptions, whitepapers, presentations and even the Systems and Options Catalog. All information is in either ASCII text or PostScript form. Each document has an abstract file (.abs) that gives a single paragraph overview of the document. It also contains the formal document name and the release date. Instructions for ftp access: 1. ftp gatekeeper.dec.com (16.1.0.2) 2. login anonymous 3. cd /pub/DEC/DECinfo Instructions for using ftpmail access: 1. Address the mail message to ftpmail@gatekeeper.dec.com. 2. Ignore the subject line. 3. Include in the first line of the body the word connect. 4. Include get commands for each document required. The body of a typical request might look like: connect get /pub/DEC/DECinfo/README get /pub/DEC/DECinfo/index get /pub/DEC/DECinfo/brochure/unix-from-digital.txt Because requests are queued up and processed every 30 minutes, results will be mailed to you later in the day. For more timely access, consider using anonymous ftp. ===================================================== 2. How can I get press releases? DECnews for Press and Analysts is an Internet-based distribution of all Digital press releases. It is provided as a courtesy to analysts, members of the press and the consulting community. To subscribe, send a request to decnews-pr@pa.dec.com. Please include your name and telephone number in the body of the subscription request. Digital press releases, fact sheets and editorial backgrounders are also posted to the biz.dec news group on a regular basis and archived weekly on gatekeeper.dec.com (16.1.0.2) in the /pub/DEC/DECinfo/DECnews-PR directory. ===================================================== 3. Does Digital have a UNIX Newsletter? DECnews for UNIX is published electronically for Internet distribution every 3 weeks and contains product and service information of interest to the Digital UNIX community. Each issue spans the breadth of Digital's UNIX offering -- DEC OSF/1, ULTRIX and SCO UNIX. In addition to base operating system information, articles cover related areas such as layered products, hardware platforms, 3rd party applications, educational courses and other service offerings. You can subscribe to DECnews for UNIX in two forms -- abstract or full. With an abstract subscription you will receive a summary of each issue (about 10k bytes) that contains pointers to the full articles. You can then get further information on any article, group of articles or the full issue via ftp or ftpmail. With a full subscription you will receive the abstract summary with all articles for that issue concatenated together into a single mail message (about 75 to 100k bytes). To subscribe, send a request to decnews-unix@pa.dec.com with a subject line of either: subscribe abstract (for an abstract subscription) or subscribe full (for a full subscription) Please include your name and telephone number in the body of the subscription request. You will be automatically placed on the appropriate distribution list and sent further information. If you have questions, you can also send the help and index command to the same address. Each abstract version of DECnews for UNIX is also posted to the biz.dec newsgroup. All back issues are archived on gatekeeper.dec.com in the /pub/DEC/DECinfo/DECnews-UNIX directory. ===================================================== 4. Does Digital have a FAX Server? If you do not have Internet access, but would still like immediate product literature, the Alpha AXP FastFAX Service is available. To access this service call: U.S. and Canada 800-842-7027 (from any touch-tone phone) Outside U.S. & Canada 415-694-3916 (from any fax machine) Just by dialing the number and following the voice prompts, an index of available information can easily be retrieved and reviewed. By entering the number of the specific document you would like, within seconds, the requested information prints out on your fax machine. The Alpha AXP FastFAX Service provides the following information: weekly "Good News" articles, hardware and software information, migration, and trade-in programs. The service is continually being updated to provide you with the latest information on products and programs. ===================================================== 5. What are the phone numbers for Digital? 1-800-DIGITAL will put you in touch with a Digital information desk. ===================================================== 6. Can I order products Electronically? With a modem you can access the Electronic Connection at 1-800-234-1998 from 7:00am to midnight EST. You can connect from any Digital compatible terminal or PC with anywhere from a 1200 to 9600 baud rate. The Electronic Connection has online software product descriptions, info- sheets and press releases. It is has an order management subsystem that allows you to create a quote, place an order or track an existing orders status. ===================================================== 7. How do I subscribe to the Digital Technical Journal? The Digital Technical Journal is published quarterly by: Digital Equipment Corporation 146 Main Street MLO 103/B68 Maynard, MA 01754-2571 Subscriptions to the journal are $40.00 for four issues and must be prepaid in U.S. funds. University and college professors and Ph.D. students in the electrical engineering and computer science fields receive complimentary subscriptions upon request. Orders, inquires, and address changes should be sent to the Digital Technical Journal at the above address. Inquiries can also be sent electronically to dtj@crl.dec.com. Single copies and back issues are available for $16.00 each from Digital Press at: Digital Equipment Corporation 1 Burlington Woods Dr. Burlington, MA 01830-4597 ===================================================== 8. How can I try out an Alpha AXP System? As a service to the Internet community, Digital Equipment Corporation provides two DEC 4000 Alpha AXP systems, so that you can try out Digital's new Alpha AXP architecture. One system is running DEC OSF/1 V1.2, the other system is running OpenVMS V1.5 for Alpha release. Both have 128MB of memory and 2GB of disk. These machines are not for benchmarking. Neither system has been tuned nor configured for a proper benchmarking environment and may contain field test software. The purpose of providing these systems is to allow you to try out the functionality of the base system and the compilers, tools and utilities that are installed on them. Check each system for more information. The systems are axposf.pa.dec.com (16.1.0.14) and axpvms.pa.dec.com (16.1.0.15) and can be reached either via telnet or rlogin. To register for an account, connect to the desired machine, log in as axpguest (no password) and answer the questions to be assigned an account. Please read all the information in the motd/login banner and comply with all rules for machine usage/restrictions. ===================================================== 9. How do I send mail to Digital employees? If you have Internet ftp capability, grab gatekeeper.dec.com:~ftp/gateway.doc, which contains every bit of relevant lore we've ever collected on this topic. If you must get by with what little information we have room for here in the FAQ, well, read on. The easiest way to find out how to get mail to a Digit is to have them send mail to you. If you get their mail, look at the headers (check the "From:" line, in particular) and try sending mail to the address as it appears to you. (If your Digit doesn't know how to send you mail, have them grab gateway.doc (it's DECWRL::"/gateway.doc" from the inside) and read it carefully. If you need to send mail to someone ``from scratch'', you will need to get them to tell you their address. If they say something like ``JOVE::VIXIE'' then the right way to reach them is one of: vixie@jove.enet.dec.com vixie%jove.enet@relay.dec.com ...!uunet!decwrl!jove.enet!vixie If on the other hand they say something like ``I'm PAUL VIXIE @WRL,'' then you can try one of these: vixie@wrl.mts.dec.com vixie%wrl.mts@relay.dec.com ...!uunet!decwrl!wrl.mts!vixie In the best of all possible worlds they will say something like ``My address is '' in which case you should send to one of: vixie@pa.dec.com vixie%pa.dec.com@relay.dec.com ...!uunet!decwrl!pa.dec.com!vixie If you try most or all of the above suggestions and can not figure out what you're doing wrong, send mail to our gateway postmaster, which is one of: postmaster@dec.com postmaster@decwrl.dec.com ...!uunet!decwrl!postmaster ===================================================== 10. Where can I get technical information on the DECstation family? System-level technical information on the DS3100, DS5000/200, and TurboChannel are available in gatekeeper.dec.com:/pub/DEC/specs: -r--r--r-- 1 root system 184329 Nov 19 1990 DS3100.ps.Z -r--r--r-- 1 root system 77017 Nov 19 1990 DS5000_200.ps.Z -r--r--r-- 1 root system 1336 Nov 6 17:36 README -r--r--r-- 1 root system 24758 Nov 19 1990 tc_cfb.ps.Z -r--r--r-- 1 root system 77051 Nov 19 1990 tc_ether.ps.Z -r--r--r-- 1 root system 29304 Nov 19 1990 tc_scsi.ps.Z For a wider overview, technical information on the DECstation 5000 Family and the current DEC 3000 Alpha AXP Workstation family, look on in the DECinfo directory structure described in Answer #1. Of particular interest would be: /pub/DEC/DECinfo/technical-overview /pub/DEC/DECinfo/infosheet ===================================================== 11. Where can I get performance information? Performance information on Digital's DECsystems, DECstations and Alpha AXP family is available in: gatekeeper.dec.com:/pub/DEC/DECinfo/performance-summary Have a look at the index file in that subdirectory to see what is what. ===================================================== 12. Where can I get copies of the DEC Software Product Descriptions (SPD)? Most SPDs can be found on gatekeeper.dec.com:/pub/DEC/DECinfo/SPD. They are numbered in the usual way; check the file "index" if you aren't sure of the number. Note that there are over 800, so 'ls' will get you a long listing! ===================================================== 13. How can I get detailed information on the TURBOchannel? The TURBOchannel is a 32bit synchronous I/O channel that is currently used on products in the VAX, MIPS and ALPHA architectures. It is used in both the workstation and server based systems. Software support for VMS, Ultrix, and OSF/1 will be provided for the applicable systems under those three architectures. For specific product information contact your local DEC sales person. Use of the TURBOchannel does not require any license or fees. It is free to both option and system vendors alike. The documentation that is provided on-line is available for public use and may be copied, in its entirety, and distributed freely. Overview information: There is a postscript presentation available on line at gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/DEC/TriAdd/TURBO.ps /TURBO.ps.Z (compressed file) The script for the presentation is a postscript file gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/DEC/TriAdd/TURBO_README.ps /TURBO_README.ps.Z (compressed file) TURBOchannel Specifications: Are available on-line in postscript format for anonymous ftp at gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/DEC/TriAdd/turbo_hw_spec.ps (hardware spec) /turbo_hw_spec.ps.Z (compressed file) gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/DEC/TriAdd/turbo_fw_spec.ps (firmware spec) /turbo_fw_spec.ps.Z (compressed file) gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/DEC/TriAdd/turbo_sys_params.ps (system params) /turbo_sys_params.ps.Z (compressed) gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/DEC/TriAdd/tci_spec05c.ps (ASIC spec) /tci_spec05c.ps.Z (compressed file) The TURBOchannel support telephone number is 1.800.332-1869. Electronic mail can be sent to turbochannel@wrksys.enet.dec.com. ============================================== 14. What third-party hardware can I get for the TURBOchannel? There is a postscript version of the TRI/ADD Shippable Products Catalog available for anonymous FTP at gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/DEC/TriAdd/TAcatalog.ps /TAcatalog.ps.Z (compressed file) for Asian countries, the file is gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/DEC/TriAdd/TA+catalog.ps /TA+catalog.ps.Z (compressed file) The catalog contains more than just TURBOchannel based products, but the TURBOchannel products have a special logo next to them which makes them easy to identify. An overview list (without product details) of the catalog is the postscript file gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/DEC/TriAdd/shortTAcatalog.ps /shortTAcatalog.ps.Z (compressed file) or the text file gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/DEC/TriAdd/shortTAcatalog.txt /shortTAcatalog.txt.Z (compressed) ===================================================== 15. Why can't I submit a bug report by electronic mail? Customers can submit bug reports electronically. DSNlink is a software tool that provides electronic communications capabilities betwen remote systems and the Digital Customer Support Center (CSC). The VMS version utilizes modems. The ULTRIX version utilizes Internet-based mail. It requires Ultrix 4.1 or higher and is available in VAX and MIPS versions. Customers may call the DSNlink Customer Support at 1-800-332-8014 for more information regarding DSNlink, or to begin the order process for the service. Unfortunately, DSNlink is only available to customers with maintenance contracts and is not available outside the United States at this time. -- Russ Jones UNIX Marketing Digital Equipment Corporation