This session was hosted by a couple of folks who have something to do with ServerPac - Greg Daynes was one of them, but I didn't get the lady's name.

Greg started off with a short presentation concerning "enhanced HOLDDATA". The HOLDDATA that is being shipped out of IBM is changing format slightly; it is more comprehensive and is billed as a single-source for error identification. It is being shipped with each PTF tape, and is now available on the Internet

The question-and-answer part came next. Some of the folks who asked questions had had bad experiences with the OS/390 ServerPac, and so came to vent. Others were looking for kindred spirits, and a shoulder to cry on.

One guy berated IBM, 'cause his system crashed after installing the ServerPac. The IBM'er shrugged; what could she do? Another guy complained about HFS serviceability, and many folks added their concurrence. Kershaw Mehta's session on HFS service was pointed out, but it is still an unstructured mess.

I asked the audience if anybody had installed both release 1.3 and 2.4? One poor soul had, and so I followed up with "Did you have a better time with 2.4 than with 1.3? Has IBM made things any easier?" His answer was that the efforts were about the same both times.

Someone hit a hot button: he asked if IBM was doing anything about the rash of post-install linkedits done outside the scope of SMP. Yes, IBM said, they were trying to extinguish these on sight. Software manufacturing was trying hard to get some of the renegade software developers back in line. I hope they do.