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<font color="#B03060">The Answer Gang</font>
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<H4>By Jim Dennis, Ben Okopnik, Dan Wilder, Breen, Chris, and the Gang,
the Editors of Linux Gazette...
and You!
<br>Send questions (or interesting answers) to
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<H3>Contents:</H3>
<dl>
<dt><a href="#tag/greeting"
><strong>¶: Greetings From Heather Stern</strong></A></dl>
<DL>
<!-- index_text begins -->
<dt><A HREF="tag/1.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Scary disk error</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/2.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>question please please please answer</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/3.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>ssh NAT/Firewall Piercing Trick --or--
<dd><A HREF="tag/3.html"
><strong>Piercing the Veil</strong></a>
<br>Using OpenSSH Remote Tunnels to Get Back In
<dt><A HREF="tag/4.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Every time Modem Hangup When Connect time 3.3 min.</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/5.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Bash</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/6.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>question</strong></a> about fingerd
<dt><A HREF="tag/7.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Kernel Compilation</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/8.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Re: Linux solution to syncing with Exchange Address books as a client</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/10.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>internet cafe</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/10.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Password aging</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/11.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>inetd and figlet</strong></a>
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<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/hbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(¶) " border="0"
>Greetings from Heather Stern</H3>
<!-- begin hgreeting -->
<p>
Hello everyone and welcome to another exciting month of The Answer Gang.
There have been a lot of fun things happening this month -- Linux turned
10 years old, if we count its "birthday" as the day when Linus sent his
initial message about it to the minix newsgroup. And there was Linux
World Expo in San Francisco this month.
</p><p>
Attendance at a local party thrown in the park to celebrate the birthday
was pretty good. In fact the local organizers were afraid we'd overflow
the park... but, as it happened, we didn't. A great time was had by all
(just how <em>did</em> they get a working fridge onsite? Wow.) and the
park felt we were so organized that we're certainly welcome to do other
events there. For that we can thank two things: the effort put in by
the local Ham operators to keep things together, and the general habit of
the Linux folk to leave the park cleaner than we left it. I showed up late
but there were still lots of soda and some burgers left.
</p><p>
The LWE conference was not so well attended. I'm sure the "dot bomb" has
had something to do with this. There weren't as many toys, there weren't
as many people, there even wern't as many reporters hanging out in the
press room rushing their interviews to press. But I did see some very cool
software there anyway. We'll probably be seeing some articles come in during
the next few months.
</p><p>
Now for my rant of the month. I've been watching as the notes about
shabby customer service roll through. Lots of people come to the Gang for
help, not because they had any idea there is a community of helpful people
here, but because they've been driven to search engines in desperation after
being blown off by the corporate support they thought they had paid for when
they got their product.
</p><p>
The worst offender from a Linux user's point of view has got to be Sony.
Not only have they made special efforts to blow off Linux users in the press,
but this particular one takes the cake - from the Debian Laptops mailing
list, archives visible over at debian.org:
</p>
<blockquote>
BTW, a funny thing happened to me when I wanted to register the laptop
online on Sony's Vaio site. It didn't work, so I sent an email to
support, saying that I can't register. Told them that I use
Linux/Mozilla, and asked if that's a known prob. The next day I got a
replay, saying, paraphrased "We don't support that OS. If the hardware
is damaged through that OS, you're on your own. Also we have no programs
to download for that OS" and so on, in unfriendly tone for lines and
lines. I asked back if they have gone crazy, it works fine, thank you
and I don't want to download anything. Just want to register the darn
thing like any other customer. Next day I got a reply: "We apologize for
the autoreply".
I guess they have a filter like "if body contains linux|bsd then reply
'f**k off'".
</blockquote>
<p>Turning on the way-back machine, I remember a time, not that long ago
really, when real people answered the main phone line for companies, and
directed your call. Okay, so they weren't paid much, in fact they were a
glorified portion of the PBX system, but they were a little brighter than
the "phone tree" (you know, press 1 to get bored to death, 2 to stay on
hold until your ears melt, 3 to get lost in a maze of twisty menus). They
really did have an interest in directing your call accurately (if they do
then they never have to worry about your call any further) and it gives
people a great feeling to reach a person - even though we know perfectly
well it's not the right person yet. They might be able to listen to your
tale of confusion amongst their products and pick the right sub-department
that you don't happen to know about. In one step, not seven.
</p><p>
The sad fact is, open source, great as it is, doesn't guarantee any pixie
dust will be applied to your customer service either. I've seen some of
these mailing lists. Heck, we've gotten our share of flames here at TAG,
being occasionally grumpy about some oddity of Linux life even as we answer
someone's question. And this is where we have an editor throwing out stuff
that doesn't look like it relates. Some people on the general lists out
there need to go stand in a corner for awhile. Just because a question
looks like it came straight out of the FAQ doesn't mean you shouldn't
actually <em>READ</em> it before trying to answer it... it might only be
<em>similar</em>. And, the world changes - last years FAQ might answer
today's odd case incorrectly. So keep those FAQs up to date.
</p><p>
(Yeah, I know, fine one I am to talk, the Past Answers Index is so old it's
growing blackberries. Anyone out there want to give a shot at updating it?)
</p><p>
Nothing gets someone's ire up much faster than making them feel foolish for
using your product. There's two ways they can use that ire - to fix things,
or to vote with their feet. So anybody staying in the commercial, proprietary
world should continue to pay attention to their customers ... since obviously
they aren't allowed to change anything, unless it's through YOU. The other
thing about open source is, the world has gotten pretty big. The odds are
quite good that if someone has dreamed up a piece of software, so has someone
else, in a different garage, possibly on a different continent. And yes, with
a slightly different outlook on life, but probably close enough (especially
since we have source) that they are not trapped in your product, not hardly.
</p><p>
So the value add if you want to get well known (and not evilly so) is to not
only have a good product that works for you, but keep your enthusiasts
cheerful on your lists. Have a bug tracking system that encourages better
bug reports than "uh, it broke". Nail bugs when you've got 'em or report back
why things are getting pushed around on your schedules. Actually consider some
of those things that were "as designed" and get complaints, to be documentation
bugs or the subject of your next redesign. And get those oddball cases to try
out your overnighter code. Lastly, don't be afraid to say when you've gone
and gotten a new life, and someone else should take up the project now. In
the case of proprietary projects shelved like this, consider releasing them
once they no longer have direct value for you. (It might turn them into some
advertsiing for the company, at least.) Make it easy for your projects to
live on their own, and they'll make you proud.
</p><p>
The sanity you save may someday be your own...
</p>
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<BR>Published in issue 70 of <I>Linux Gazette</I> September 2001</H5>
<H6 ALIGN="center">HTML script maintained by
<A HREF="mailto:star@starshine.org">Heather Stern</a> of
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