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On Monday, September 28, 1998, the following software keywords in the UA1VM PKG system will be dropped, and the software will no longer be available. Most of the items in this list are either old versions of standard software, or old software that is no longer used. If you think you are still using any of this software on UA1VM, call the Helpdesk at 348-2435, or send e-mail to Help.Desk@ua.edu.
The PKG keywords to be dropped are:
ACRITH, APL2, BITFILES, BOOKMGR, BOOKMSTR, CALCOMP, DITTO, DRAW, DSF, DW370, EISPACK, ESE, ESSL, ESSLR4, FLSF, GDDM370, IHF, GRAPHIGS, IBMPLOT, IMSL9, IMSL10, LISP, NEWMAIL, BOOKMSTR. MAIL96, OSL, PL1, PMFOLD, PS, SAS518, SASOLD, SHOWFILE, SPELL, VAST, XEDIT.
This change does NOT affect users of the standard SAS program (PKG keyword SAS), the standard IMSL program (keyword IMSL), the MAIL program (no keyword needed), nor the XEDIT program (no keyword needed).
To find out more information about moving from UA1VM to bama.ua.edu, visit the migration web page at http://bama.ua.edu/~helpdesk/migration [Editor's note: The migration web site was removed during the fall 1999 semester.], and check out the new Migration FAQ. Here are some example questions from the FAQ:
Q: Who has to move off of UA1VM?
A: Everybody! The IBM mainframe known as UA1VM is going away. Everybody who uses UA1VM for anything has to move. If you still use UA1VM, and you haven't started moving yet, you should start today! Take your ACT card to the Helpdesk today, get your bama account, and get going.
Q: Do my files move to bama.ua.edu automatically?
A: No. When you get your bama account, you have a clean, fresh account. You can immediately start using it for e-mail. You can put web pages on it. You can access any software on bama. But if you have files on a UA1VM account and you want to keep them, you need to move them to bama (using ftp). For information on migrating your files from UA1VM to bama, forwarding your mail, and other migration concerns, visit the migration web page at http://bama.ua.edu/~helpdesk/migration. [Editor's note: The migration web site was removed during the fall 1999 semester.]
Q: Is UA1VM the same thing as PROFS?
A: Some people who use PROFS on UA1VM for mail and calendars think of the computer as PROFS. In that sense, yes, they are the same. If you use PROFS or a PROFS account, you are using UA1VM, and yes, all these changes do apply to you.
In fact, if you are using PROFS to read or send e-mail, you need to move right away, get a new address (either on bama.ua.edu or on your department network server), and inform your correspondents of your new address.
Remember, the following changes will be taking place on UA1VM in the next few weeks. If you are not sure how you are affected by these changes, call the Helpdesk at 348-2435, or send e-mail to Help.Desk@ua.edu and ask for more information. Visit the migration web page and the June/July and August newsletters (on-line at http://bama.ua.edu/~usernews) for additional information. [Editor's note: The migration web site was removed during the fall 1999 semester.]
September 20, 1998 - Last day to access the Gopher server on UA1VM. If you still use the Gopher server to access information, you should check the University web page at http://www.ua.edu for current access to that information.
September 28, 1998 - Selected old keywords will be dropped from the PKG system, and thus dropped from use on UA1VM (see article above).
October 4, 1998 - Last day to access the POP mail server on UA1VM. If you use Netscape or MS Outlook or another POP client to read your e-mail from UA1VM, this affects you.
October 12, 1998 - Unused accounts on UA1VM will be deleted. This will include all accounts that have shown no file activity since creation (including accounts that may have been used for dialup authentication or POP mail but not logged on.)
Heard more than you want to about the year 2000 (or the Y2K problem?) Wondering if this is something you should worry about? Read on for information about the University's Y2K efforts.
The year 2000 problem (usually abbreviated Y2K) refers to the common practice among computer manufacturers and programmers of using two digits instead of 4 to represent a year (e.g. "80" instead of "1980"). This problem affects computer hardware and software of all types, including mainframes, personal computers and network servers. It also could affect any equipment that depends on computer technology or contains embedded computer chips, such as medical or research monitoring equipment and security systems. Some people believe this will turn out to be a major global catastrophe. Others believe it will be controlled, and that most computer problems can be fixed (or even ignored, if the computer does not run applications which are date dependent). So much has now been written about the problem, and the efforts to fix it, that it's difficult to say what is going to happen.
Should you worry about it? Let's say you certainly should be informed about it. There are already many people on campus involved in the University's effort to prepare for the year 2000. The University is in the process of preparing a year 2000 readiness report, which is part of the year 2000 effort by the University of Alabama System and the State of Alabama. There is an on-going project to prepare the University's mainframe computers, central computer services, and administrative application software. Efforts are underway to survey the University's personal computers and network support system. Letters have gone out to Deans and Directors reminding them of the need to consider all computer-related systems, and informing them of the reporting deadlines. For further information, including links to information about your equipment and software, check the University's general year 2000 information page, at http://bama.ua.edu/~y2k.
Question: I have been using UA1VM for mail. Now I have set up an account on bama.ua.edu, and use Netscape to read my mail. I am telling all my friends to use my bama address, and I changed my address in the faculty/staff directory, as you suggested. Still, some of my friends have not yet gotten the word. I have forwarded my UA1VM mail to my bama account. How long will my mail be forwarded from UA1VM to bama?
Answer: If you have already set up your mail to forward from UA1VM to bama, that forwarding will continue until at least Christmas. After that, it depends on your account on bama. If your account on bama is different from what it was on UA1VM then your mail forwarding will end after Christmas, when the name UA1VM is no longer used by the computer that is now called UA1VM. If your account is the same on both computers, then when the name UA1VM moves to point to the bama.ua.edu computer, mail sent to UA1VM will go to your account on bama. Most faculty and staff have the same account on both machines, and mail forwarding will continue even after Christmas (as long as the name UA1VM is maintained.) For students, and for those faculty and staff who elected to use a different name on bama, mail forwarding will be in place until Christmas.
If you have not yet set up your UA1VM account to forward, check the migration web page at http://bama.ua.edu/~helpdesk/migration for information on forwarding mail from UA1VM. [Editor's note: The migration web site was removed during the fall 1999 semester.]
NOTE: For more information about any question featured here, or to ask about something which might be answered here, send e-mail to Help.Desk@ua.edu