Re: 3'rd party question

Tom (and all others asking questions on this thread)...

--On Monday, September 29, 2003 10:06:29 -0500 Tom 'spot' Callaway 
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Its a little early to make that call. However, we fully expect
> certifications from all of our vendor partners who certified their
> product lines on RHEL 2.1, which include Oracle, IBM, Veritas, and
> LEGATO.
>
> ~spot

Seems like a timely moment for me to jump in here, as the topic is 
enormously pertinent to me at this moment in time.

SCENARIO: This week I'll be embarking on a new project that involves IBM 
software; specifically, IBM Portal 4.2.1 Extend. The scope of the project 
calls for me to do a proof-of-concept install, followed by a "production 
deployment" at our main office. According to the parameters of the project, 
the production installation needs to stay in place, and be accessible, for 
one year. I can't say too much about the project itself other than to note 
it involves detailing the installation and administration of Portal Extend, 
and the content generated will be read/critiqued, and used as a source of 
information, internally by IBM.

The problem I face, given the recent reorganization at RH, is a relatively 
complex one. IBM only support Portal Extend on RH 7.2. I've managed to 
implement Enable on RH 8, so I can say with relative confidence that I'll 
be able to do the same with Extend. But support for 7.2 --> 8.0 disappears 
12/31/03, and support for 9 goes away in March. Fair enough. But what RH OS 
do I lay this project on. I certainly do not want to be faced with an OS 
upgrade half way through the project cycle. I also need to lay it on 
something that's supported.

I have tried running the Extend installer on RH 9 and RHAS beta 3. No joy.

Using IBMJava2-SDK-131, the installer segfaults on both operating systems.
Using IBMJava2-SDK-141, the installer starts, but craps out on a Java 
exception error early in the process.

So the problem is clearly in IBM's court. Their installer Java code 
evidently clashes with the GLIBC libraries (or something related to GCC 3.3 
and GLIBC 2.3.2; I'm not a dev, just a lowly admin). IBM are providing no 
insights as to where they plan to jump.

RH are saying this, and other compatibility issues, belong in the vendor's 
domain. True.

But guys (and gals ;-) like me are left hanging in the lurch. I've got a 
job to do, and a project to implement/administer. Pointing fingers doesn't 
resolve the issues one nit.

This is not a criticism or condemnation of any parties, in any way, shape, 
or form. It's a request for insight and a call for suggested approaches.

I have a conference call with some "high ups" at IBM tomorrow morning. The 
more background knowledge I can bring to the table, the better.

What kind of questions should I be asking?
Does RH have any insights to provide?
What, if any, opinions can the admin/dev community provide on this thread?

TIA. And great work on RHAS 3, folks. Very impressive release.

Best,
/tom



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