samba - Sep 2014 - Samba patches and lack of instructions

Have been tasked with closing glaring security holes in samba 3.4.0 on an AIX
6.1 host.   Found your page of security patches however the way they are listed
on the page is not very good.  The columns and rows are convoluted in the way
the information is presented.  In addition to the poor presentation of the
security patches there are no instructions on the security patch page on the
proper method to install said patches (that is assuming that the proper
patch(es) can be picked out of the messy list.  Instructions should contain
checks for prerequisites and should assume no prior knowledge of the product,
which in going through other documents on your website there are tons of cases
of "Assuming Prior Knowledge".  All patch, update, and installation
packages need and should have detailed installation instructions included in
some form of text file.  Need to have detailed instructions for the proper
installation of the patch(es)

We are not in position to move to a later Samba release as there are no newer
Samba binaries available, and come to find that Samba's link to
"any" AIX binaries is dead and goes no where.  The customer does not
possess the programming compilers in order to attempt to build a new Samba from
source.  So we are stuck with attempting to patch what they have.

One has to remember that most of us that have to deal with  products such as
Samba come into the situation long after the product has been installed,
customized countless times by numerous admins that have come and gone leaving
behind no documentation of their far less than expert programming skills, and
now it is broken or needs fixed in some fashion.  Samba's brass assumptions
of Prior Knowledge leave those of us tasked with fixing the product in very poor
positions.


Regards

Steven Palser
Senior Technical Support Representative
Harland Technology Services
Steve.Palser at harlandts.com
800.228.3628
402.697.3000
www.harlandts.com


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On 09/09/14 15:15, Steve.Palser at harlandts.com wrote:
> Have been tasked with closing glaring security holes in samba 3.4.0 on an
AIX 6.1 host.   Found your page of security patches however the way they are
listed on the page is not very good.  The columns and rows are convoluted in the
way the information is presented.  In addition to the poor presentation of the
security patches there are no instructions on the security patch page on the
proper method to install said patches (that is assuming that the proper
patch(es) can be picked out of the messy list.  Instructions should contain
checks for prerequisites and should assume no prior knowledge of the product,
which in going through other documents on your website there are tons of cases
of "Assuming Prior Knowledge".  All patch, update, and installation
packages need and should have detailed installation instructions included in
some form of text file.  Need to have detailed instructions for the proper
installation of the patch(es)
>
> We are not in position to move to a later Samba release as there are no
newer Samba binaries available, and come to find that Samba's link to
"any" AIX binaries is dead and goes no where.  The customer does not
possess the programming compilers in order to attempt to build a new Samba from
source.  So we are stuck with attempting to patch what they have.
>
> One has to remember that most of us that have to deal with  products such
as Samba come into the situation long after the product has been installed,
customized countless times by numerous admins that have come and gone leaving
behind no documentation of their far less than expert programming skills, and
now it is broken or needs fixed in some fashion.  Samba's brass assumptions
of Prior Knowledge leave those of us tasked with fixing the product in very poor
positions.
>
>
> Regards
>
> Steven Palser
> Senior Technical Support Representative
> Harland Technology Services
> Steve.Palser at harlandts.com
> 800.228.3628
> 402.697.3000
> www.harlandts.com
WOW, in the first place, this is a community support mailing list and 
coming on here bitching like you have, is not conducive to getting help, 
especially as a quick google would have found you this:

ftp://www.oss4aix.org/latest/aix61/

You complained that your customer don't have the compiler to build samba 
from source, just what did you think that you would do with the patches?

Rowland
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in this message is
intended only for the recipient and may contain information that is
confidential. If you are not the intended recipient or an employee or agent
responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient; please be
aware that any dissemination, forwarding, printing, copying, disclosure or
distribution of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received
this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender by replying to
the message and deleting all copies, including attachments, from your system.