-- Maintenance and responsibility policy for DCNS Watchmaker machines. --
                                                 Mark Curby 24 Sep 93.

Watchmakers - 

The following policy clarifies responsibility for maintenance of 
machines in the DCNS watchmaker zone.

Each machine in the watchmaker area is "owned" by some member of the 
full time staff.   The owner has final responsibility for the machine.  
I (mlc) have been assigned ownership of most of the Mac and Unix 
machines in the zone, and Paul Hill is the owner of the DOS machines.

Traditionally watchmakers have been allowed to extensively customize the 
workstations in the zone.  This has many benefits, but can make it 
difficult for the owner to know what's what on the machine, and can be a 
problem when new watchmakers are assigned a machine or machines need to 
be shared.

From my point of view, as the person responsible for most of the 
machines in the zone, I need an easy way to know who knows about all the 
modifications to any particular machine.  I, with the help of a few of 
the watchmakers, have come up with the following policy which designates 
a "maintainer" for each customized machine in the zone.  The maintainer 
must be someone who is currently working for DCNS.  

While final responsibility for the machine remains with the owner, the 
maintainer is given responsibility for day to day maintenance and any 
customization of the machine.
  
    1) The maintainer of a watchmaker workstation must be a currently 
active DCNS employee (includes credit and volunteer UROP's)
    
    2) The maintainer agrees to maintain the machine and take 
responsibility for problems that might arise from customizations, local 
accounts, unusual use, etc.
    
    3) The maintainer will ensure that the machine is clearly labeled 
with the maintainer's name, the machine name, the IP address, the MIT 
property number, and the machine's serial number.  
(/mit/watchmaker/label.ps provides a template)
  
If there is no maintainer label on a machine, or if the information is 
out of date, e.g. the maintainer is away for the summer, responsibility 
for the machine reverts to the owner, and the machine may be 
re-installed with a standard configuration.
  
When a new watchmaker adopts a machine, he or she has the right to 
reconfigure the machine (including re-installation).  If the previous 
maintainer would like some of the previous services to remain, then the 
previous maintainer must convince the new maintainer that the services 
should be continued.  If the new maintainer decides to retain services 
from the previous maintainer, the new maintainer should make sure that 
they understand all of the customizations to the machine, as they will 
be responsible for them.
  
If it is not clear who the maintainer of a machine should be, and a 
mutually acceptable solution is not reached, the owner of the machine 
will arbitrate the matter.
  
This agreement applies to all machines in the watchmaker zone, including 
UNIX, Macintosh, and DOS/Windows machines.

- Mark
------------
Mark Curby             
MIT Network Services       MIT Room E40-342G
(617) 253-7725             77 Massachusetts Ave.
mlc@mit.edu                Cambridge, MA  02139