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OpenBSD (Still) Seeks UltraSparc III Docs From Sun

Posted by timothy on from the vogon-constructor-fleet-tactics dept.

An anonymous reader writes "There is a very interesting article on kerneltrap regarding OpenBSD's lingering battle with Sun over UltraSparc III documentation (that's right ... it still hasn't been resolved). Jeremy Andrews relates his efforts to get a position from Sun on the matter. In summary, he was completely stonewalled ... and that is exactly what makes the article so noteworthy."

4 of 163 comments (clear)

  1. Sun And Documentation... by Bowie+J.+Poag · · Score: 4, Funny



    Sun, with ANY kind of documentation, is going to be a royal pain in the ass. Here, i'll give you a personal example.

    One day, I picked up a SparcStation 1 at a surplus auction. Cool, I thought, I'll learn SPARC architecture, a bit about disaster recovery with Sun hardware, Solaris, you name it. So, I hacked the hell out of it, and learned everything I could without documentation. When it came time to look at a manual. I called Sun.

    "Hi... I was wondering if you could send me the owners manual for a SparcStation 1."

    "Sorry. Thats handled by SunStore."

    "Whats SunStore?"

    "They handle all our documentation."

    So, I call SunStore, and ask the same question.

    "Hi.. I was wondering if I could order a user's manual for a Sun SparcStation 1. I know the machine is like 10 years old, but do you still have the manuals?"

    "Yes, we do."

    "Great, i'd like to order one, then. Is Visa ok?"

    "Uhh.. Well, we can't sell it to you."

    "What do you mean?"

    "Well, we cant sell you just one."

    "Huh?"

    "You need to order in lots of 500."

    "You mean in order to buy a SparcStation 1 manual, I need to buy 500?!"

    "Yes."

    "Uhhh.... Ooooh-kaaay.. How much is a lot of 500?"

    "$39.95"

    "Oh, okay..I guess thats fine.. I dunno what i'm gonna do with 499 Sparc manuals tho. I guess you can keep them, and just send me one. Thats all I need."

    "39.95 is the unit price, sir. You're looking at a total of.... $19,975."

    "No way!"

    "Yes sir. Will this be on a Visa or Mastercard?"

    *click*

    --
    Bowie J. Poag

    1. Re:Sun And Documentation... by Gordonjcp · · Score: 2, Funny

      I just rang them up and they posted out Sparcstation 2 manuals. They arrived two days later, with a little note saying "Thanks for using Sun kit, hope you have fun. If you want to buy new stuff call us." kind of thing...

  2. Re:Java Beans by Shanep · · Score: 1, Funny

    Beware of sarcasm and devil's advocacy.

    Is this a "get out of jail free card"?

    --
    War crimes, torture, lies, illegal spying... Would someone give Bush a blowjob, already, so he can be impeached?
  3. UltraSparc III for Dummies by Vapor8 · · Score: 1, Funny

    UltraSparc III for Dummies!

    There's the answer!