The following is from the latest InfoWorld Gossip column hosted by the "current Robert X. Cringley" (not the one who did the PBS special last month on Y2k).

For the nontechies out there, Lotus cc:mail is an e-mail package used by large organizations worldwide. Baan is an Enterprise Resource Management software system similar to SAP which runs LARGE companies. The fact that these systems are releasing patches at this late date and just NOW notifying their clients is very bad news. It indicates that they are still finding bugs and that these bugs are fatal to the products Y2K compliance. Most system administrators try to run patches through parallel off-line systems to test them before installing them on the live system. This takes weeks to set up the test and run through all the testing protocols. We don't have weeks so these guys are now faced with one of two decisions: 1) Install the patch and pray it works and doesn't screw something up in these highly customized systems. OR 2) Don't install the patch and roll the dice that the Y2k problems that the patch solves will not come up within the first few weeks of 2000. Neither is a "happy camper" situation. These guys must be sweating bullets right about now!

The URL to find this is column is http://www.infoworld.com/opinions/morenotesfromthefield.html

-snip- Maybe the lack of seasonal spirit is the result of year-2000 worries. At Lotus Development, there are definitely bad feelings in the air, with what looks like an internal battle brewing between Lotus' Technical Support and Customer Support departments.

One reader reports that he received a letter from Customer Support saying that his Lotus cc:Mail, Version 8.1, installation is not year-2000 ready -- in direct contradiction to an earlier statement on Lotus' Web site, stating that running cc:Mail DB8 Post Office and Version 8.x clients make the platform year-2000 ready. The user contacted Customer Support and was told the letter was a mistake, and that the product is year-2000 ready. However, when the user reported this to a Technical Support user group, he was asked by a Technical Support staffer to fax over the letter from Customer Support, because Technical Support needed to check whether it was accurate. The user is still awaiting a reply.

Aside from its lack of holiday spirit, Lotus has also blown it on the political correctness front: Both it and RSA Data Security have planned their annual conferences with a full schedule on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 17.

Baan certainly won't be on one reader's holiday list. The reader is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) customer, who was told on Dec. 12 that "You may want to look at our Web site for a list of Y2K patches you need." The reader's first shock was finding out that an upgrade to BaanERP Service Pack 6 is needed to ensure compliance. However, the user had specifically avoided this upgrade, due to reliability concerns. The user also noticed that some of the eight required patches were only posted to Baan's site that day -- nineteen days before the date rollover. How's that for planning? -snip-

9 days left...Got Stuff?

-- Mark (mpmayer@powerway.com), December 22, 1999

Answers

Ah, thanks, that might explain why my company is taking our network down to do "Y2K stuff" between Christmas and rollover. We're on Lotus. Oops.

"1) Install the patch and pray it works"

Prayer, no, but I'll cross my fingers.

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 22, 1999.

The only thing that might not work is your card at the grocery store. Just take your checkbook and it will be no problem. No reason to worry, enjoy the new millennium!

-- Robert X. Crinkley (someone.stole@my.brain), December 22, 1999.