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Don't blame the support guy

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8 May 2006 - 5:59am
Submitted by: rvanherk

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HotPatch

One of the questions I frequently get at Novell Support is "Why isn't this ZENworks patch available on the support website, other Novell products release patches much more frequent".
Many of you know that for ZENworks we use the so called "HotPatches". The HotPatches aren't published on the web but these are the builds that the engineers from Novell Support can send to customers. Especially customers that get new hardware and need updated drivers in their imaging environment question why these updates aren't available as public download. Well I can say that many of the Novell Engineers have the same question, so last month I asked one of our engineering managers why ZENworks is different from other products.
One important reasons why the HotPatches aren't released to the public is the fact that we have to deal with the US export regulations, ZENworks is using some open source components (like within our imaging solution) and before we can publish these components on the web we need to get an updated export approval. The weird thing is that if a customer contacts Novell Support with a problem that is supposed to be fixed within such a HotPatch, Novell Support can just provide the URL to the FTP site where the patch can be downloaded from without the additional export approval.
So, don't blame the support guy, blame the US government ;-)




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Jim Webb's picture

While I under stand why

Submitted by Jim Webb (not verified) on 23 May 2006 - 4:21am.

While I under stand why Novell doesn't release the ZENworks patches I still think Novell could do a better job about spreading information about what HotPatch is available and what it fixes.
Right now, for example, I’m having trouble getting the remote management audit log to work using ZDM 6.5 SP2, what I found that fixes the problem is ZDM 6.5 HP2. Is this documented anywhere? What would I do if I didn’t have HP2? If it weren’t for the forums I wouldn’t know that a HotPatch exists.
So while I don’t blame support, I do blame Novell.

Ton's picture

i find it very unacceptable

Submitted by Ton (not verified) on 23 May 2006 - 1:20pm.

i find it very unacceptable the way patches are hard to get by, and not documented

the excuse about "us export regulations" is not relevant, Novell has developpers in Europe, in India and in the US...

so in light of that, develop those "sensitive" components outside the US , and there you go , no more hastle with "export regulations"

Surely a company as established as Novell, has ways to get what it needs to be successfull, surely us customs are not in the business of hampering US companies? surely the customs do not want to encourage more job loss to countries like India , just because of "export regulations" ???

somebody is not trying hard enough to get things done.

"i don't blame support, but i do blame Novell"

Martin Buckley's picture

Ton Export is a serious

Submitted by Martin Buckley (not verified) on 23 May 2006 - 6:05pm.

Ton

Export is a serious matter - it really does not matter where software is written.

Here is a note from Jack Messman regarding this subject: http://www.novell.com/company/policies/trade_services/corp_commit.html

NOVELL: Cool Blogs » Blog Archive » Hot Update's picture

[...] A few weeks ago I

Submitted by NOVELL: Cool Blogs » Blog Archive » Hot Update (not verified) on 10 June 2006 - 1:43am.

[...] A few weeks ago I posted a blog about the ZENworks Hot Patches, these are the internal patch builds that Novell Support can send to customers that have reported some problems. To get access to such a Hot Patch people always needed to open a Service Request with Novell Support. [...]

David Spender's picture

I just learned of these

Submitted by David Spender (not verified) on 18 July 2006 - 4:36am.

I just learned of these mysterious Hot Patches yesterday after trying for a week to get Zenworks Imaging working. This page is the first concrete description I've seen. I still don't have Zenworks working.... the thought that I have to call support to get updated NIC drivers sort of irks me. There must be a better way.

Blaming this on the US Goverment is just silly. Figure out a solution!!!

Ron van Herk's picture

Well, we have been working

Submitted by Ron van Herk (not verified) on 18 July 2006 - 7:52am.

Well, we have been working on a solution during the last few months. For ZEN 7 we released the SP1 last week, it's available on the web as a download. For 6.5 there is a mail system, have a look at my post called hot update.

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