[hercules-390] IBM web site seriously broken?

['\'Fish\' (David B. Trout)' [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

I am, and at least one other person is, having trouble accessing certain IBM URLs.

I noticed this myself when I was trying to locate some IBM manuals on IBM's web site. I'd search for the manual and IBM's server would return a list of hits, such as:

https://www.ibm.com/search?q=GA32-0127&lnk=mhsrch&v=18&en=utf&lang=en&cc=us


But when I click on any of the returned hits (such as the very first one: IBM Library Server CCONTENTS "A29H1000"):

http://publibfp.dhe.ibm.com/cgi-bin/bookmgr/FRAMESET/A29H1000/CCONTENTS?SHELF=ez2hwk02&DN=GA32-0127-03&DT=19940107102652


It redirects me instead to IBM's main entry web page!

https://www.ibm.com/us-en/


(WTF?!)

Someone wrote to me saying they were trying to locate a 3490 Hardware Reference manual (GA32-0127-03) but could not find it anywhere on IBM's web site due to the very same reason detailed above: IBM supposedly *knows* where the information is (it provides links that *supposedly* are supposed to take you to the web page where the information supposedly is), but it won't let you access it! Instead, it keeps sending you to its main web site page! (www.ibm.com)

The manual in question (GA32-0127-03) doesn't exist in PDF format (that I know of), but it *does* exist in "Book Manager" (.boo) format. I know that for a fact because, years ago, not only did I save the URL for it:

http://publibz.boulder.ibm.com/cgi-bin/bookmgr/BOOKS/A29H1000/CONTENTS?SHELF=&DT=19940107102652


but I also used an online service at the time (whose URL I no longer have) to convert it to .PDF format too (which I still have).

Is anyone else seeing the same thing that I am, and this other person is, seeing?

Is IBM's web site (web server) really that F'ed up? (sick?)

Thanks.

[[e-mail] [hercules-390]]

It really is that screwed up - the discussion has been ongoing on IBM-Main for several weeks. A couple boatloads of old manuals from OS/390 as well as every z/OS level which is out of service disappeared without warning. I *think* all the Bookmanager docs were purged. Some of this was fixed a week or two later and then recently some disaster hit which clobbered a bunch more docs. This may be fixed by the end of the month. The IBM-Main folks are blaming PFCSKs (Pimply Faced Computer Science Kids - I had to Google it).



The OS/390 docs are actually still out there but you have to know the correct website to access them on the WaybackMachine site



https://web.archive.org/web/20170618042517/http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/library/bkserv/os390_r10pdf/ https://web.archive.org/web/20170618042517/http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/library/bkserv/os390_r10pdf/


I spent a fair amount of time a couple days ago copying a bunch of PDFs for OS/390 topics I found interesting to the WaybackMachine site - there is probably an efficient way to do it but I don't know what that is so - it took forever.



This is not the IBM we grew up with.


Jim

[Giuseppe Vitillaro [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

Post by ***@yahoo.com [hercules-390]
This is not the IBM we grew up with.

Definitely NOT!

And unfortunately IBM is not alone on this path.

The new generations keep touching things which had
been working flawless for decades, without really
understading what they are doing.

And things ... of course ... broke down ;-(

Peppe.

[Mike Stramba [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

Post by ***@yahoo.com [hercules-390]
This is not the IBM we grew up with

"docs / content lost ...."

Ya, but the site LOOKS real "purdy" :/ Just like FB / Twitto ..

Post by ***@yahoo.com [hercules-390]
It really is that screwed up - the discussion has been ongoing on IBM-Main
for several weeks. A couple boatloads of old manuals from OS/390 as well as
every z/OS level which is out of service disappeared without warning. I
*think* all the Bookmanager docs were purged. Some of this was fixed a week
or two later and then recently some disaster hit which clobbered a bunch
more docs. This may be fixed by the end of the month. The IBM-Main folks are
blaming PFCSKs (Pimply Faced Computer Science Kids - I had to Google it).
The OS/390 docs are actually still out there but you have to know the
correct website to access them on the WaybackMachine site
https://web.archive.org/web/20170618042517/http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/library/bkserv/os390_r10pdf/
https://web.archive.org/web/20170618042517/http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/library/bkserv/os390_r10pdf/
I spent a fair amount of time a couple days ago copying a bunch of PDFs for
OS/390 topics I found interesting to the WaybackMachine site - there is
probably an efficient way to do it but I don't know what that is so - it
took forever.
This is not the IBM we grew up with.
Jim

[[e-mail] [hercules-390]]

LOL - yeah as long as it luks purdy so what if some old person gets pissed - they need to "git agile". "Whatever".


I do feel sorry for the old timers who are still at IBM and putting up with this b***s*** on a daily basis and wishing things were like the old days when changes were tested before dumped on the customers and glad I am no longer still there.


Jim

['Shelby Beach' [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

Jim,

Re. Pissed Old Person: Almost none left. IBM eliminated them by forcing all
employees to move to various central locations. Net result: Only the
younger, less settled employees took the offer. The remaining, took the only
alternative !

Shelby



_____

From: hercules-***@yahoogroups.com [mailto:hercules-***@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2018 10:37 PM
To: hercules-***@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [hercules-390] Re: IBM web site seriously broken?






LOL - yeah as long as it luks purdy so what if some old person gets pissed -
they need to "git agile". "Whatever".

I do feel sorry for the old timers who are still at IBM and putting up with
this b***s*** on a daily basis and wishing things were like the old days
when changes were tested before dumped on the customers and glad I am no
longer still there.


Jim

[[e-mail] [hercules-390]]

Shelby,


I took the IBM Transition to Retirement offer in 2014. Ominous message was part of the offer: "You cannot be subject to layoff while participating in Transition to Retirement" (or words to that effect. I took the hint/nudge and found a job at a startup. Unfortunately, PFCSKs were in defacto charge of development and after a couple years of finding no joy in the job, I resigned. Many of my coworkers have left or are about to leave - some even got "sold" to another company (the product they work on is what actually got sold - they got to apply for new jobs there). Sad place for those still at the development lab.


Jim

['Shelby Beach' [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

Jim,

Kinda makes you wonder what happened to "Respect for the individual" !

Shelby



_____

From: hercules-***@yahoogroups.com [mailto:hercules-***@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2018 6:41 AM
To: hercules-***@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [hercules-390] Re: IBM web site seriously broken?






Shelby,

I took the IBM Transition to Retirement offer in 2014. Ominous message was
part of the offer: "You cannot be subject to layoff while participating in
Transition to Retirement" (or words to that effect. I took the hint/nudge
and found a job at a startup. Unfortunately, PFCSKs were in defacto charge
of development and after a couple years of finding no joy in the job, I
resigned. Many of my coworkers have left or are about to leave - some even
got "sold" to another company (the product they work on is what actually got
sold - they got to apply for new jobs there). Sad place for those still at
the development lab.

Jim

[R P Herrold [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

Post by '\'Fish\' (David B. Trout)' ***@gmail.com [hercules-390]
I am, and at least one other person is, having trouble
accessing certain IBM URLs.

IBM publishes a huge corpus; Probably just a (assemedly done
periodic) re-index is not properly excluding no longer
available resources

I seem to recall that 'book manager' was EOL'd

I find this:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/SSLTBW_2.3.0/com.ibm.zos.v2r3.e0zm100/BookManagerREAD_Removed_V2R3.htm


Sadly, the replacement has a rather poorly chosen abilities to
serach for exact literal strings

https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/help

when the search string contains 'hyphens'


-- Russ herrold

[Philipp Brenner [e-mail] [hercules-390]]

I think most of the files are actually still there and it is just the
bookserver that is broken. If you know the filenames you can still
download the files...

A few years ago I stumbled upon the .des (description?) files for a
number of collections at http://publibz.boulder.ibm.com/epubs/df/ and
wrote a shell script to download and archive it all.
I obviously cannot share this archive due to IBM's copyright (and the
size of it) but all you have to do is grab a .des file and look for the
book you want.
The path is in the ELM_DIRECT_NAME entry (just prepend
http://publibz.boulder.ibm.com for the complete url).

Unfortunately the .des files do not cover all of the old AS/400 and
networking stuff that I know was there as well.

Anyway, the book you are looking for is here:
http://publibz.boulder.ibm.com/epubs/book/a29h1000.boo

HTH
Philipp


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