The HARD indisputable facts are that the top 50% of earners in most western economies pay 90% of the taxes.
The other HARD indisputable fact is that 90% of the taxes will never be spent in ways to benefit me. They will, however, be spent in ways to benefit the upper income levels.
Given that a dollar in the private sector generates far more economic activity than a dollar held by Uncle Sam, I would say that your position is incorrect.
Hmmm...Conservatives often spout that belief, but, for the life of me, I can't figure out how that could possibly be. In the end, both the dollar spent by the private sector and the dollar spent by the government end up back in the economy, to be recycled again thru both private and governmental spending yet again.
If you're talking savings (or, in effect, taking 10% of the dollar out of the economy--IIRC, that's the amount banks are req'd to keep on hand), then I'd have to say that the gov't "saving" the dollar is more beneficial to the economy. After all, we all know that the gov't (the US, at least) doesn't even know how to save...yet, obviously Microsoft does. Gov't savings are used to buy back T-bonds from investors, who then reinvest or spend that money. MS's savings (a portion of at least) is sitting in a bank, with only 90% available for reinvestment.
There is a huge difference between what is required to be there for an OS and what is a user application. IE is a user application. It is not, or at least, should not be required. But that's not the root of the matter.
And it's not required. It's only required if you want the Windows shell to work. Go ahead, try it. Open your system.ini, find the line shell=explorer.exe and change it to shell=progman.exe. Now just delete iexplore.exe and the IE DLL files (major one that comes to mind is shlwapi.dll). Reboot, and you'll be looking at Windows 3.x Program Manager goodness! Gives you all the functionality (and then some) of an OS to boot. If you're really hardcore, just boot to DOS.
It's 100% true... less a few tiny differences.
KDE isn't an operating system.
You're right, KDE isn't an OS. But, then again, neither is Windows 9x. DOS is the OS, Windows is a shell (or window manager). Of course, consumers don't know the distinction, and they all expect a modern OS to have an integrated GUI. Windows is the GUI, just like KDE is a GUI for Linux (there's no reason to get into X, Gnome, etc.). Linux will run without without a browser, without KDE, and even without X. But, then, so will Windows (don't believe me? just rename c:\windows\win.com and reboot...). Of course, Windows program won't run, but then neither will KDE programs run without KDE.
I'd say for an apples to apples comparison (at as close as you can get at least), KDE(+X+Linux) is equal to Windows 9x.
KDE isn't a monopoly operating system.
That's irrelavant in this instance. He wasn't aksed to name another monopoly OS. For that matter, it'd be an oxymoron to have 2 different monopoly OS's, wouldn't it?
KDE isn't an illegaly leveraged monopoly operating system.
I'd have to agree. I only wish all my office's PC's were of that recent vintage! We even have a few Pentium 233-MMX's still running! I think there's even a Pentium 200 (non-MMX!) around. I just stick in as much RAM as I can and hope for the best next budget year.
400MHz machines are plenty fast for standard office fare. Stick in 256MB of RAM, and they'll be fine. If they're still a little sluggish, it's probably just time for that annual Windows reinstall.
Use RIS. You won't be tied to hardware configs (unless you have funky hardware that doesn't have a Microsoft driver) and you can just plug your machines in with a floppy telling the machine to RIS itself (or certain NIC cards.. was it newer 3coms or Intels?).
Bah. The first RIS job I did will be my last one. At least until I have to do > 100 PC's. I never did figure out all the problems we had with that install (project got pulled in the middle of it due to layoffs), but I think our Cisco switches did not like the DHCP requests from trying to boot off the network. About 35% of the machines had to be rebooted 5+ times in order to get a lease. And, even after it loaded (which took a god awful long time), we still had to configure each PC (for Outlook, custom apps, etc.)!
For the 15-20 PC's he's talking about, I think RIS is a little too much. Just make 2 images (assuming no SCSI drives), one for ACPI compliant PC's and one for APM PC's (assuming you have any), install your common programs (Office and the like) and sysprep them. Then just Ghost from a network server. That's the cheap, slow way to do it. Oh, and it'll also clog the network so you may want to do it off hours. Just make sure your server can support multiple streams (or use a few servers), or it'll REALLY slow you down. I'd suggest using Bart's network boot disk to boot from (hopefully you have supported NICs, most major ones are) and then you can assign an IP if you have trouble with DHCP.
Or, if your cases are easy to work with (most recent OEMs, barring HP and Compaq, are) Ghost from a few internal hdds (much, much faster). Just give each of your tech 3 hdd's and 3 preconfigured Ghost floppies to boot from (start Ghost in the autoexec.bat file). By the time they've started the 3rd install, the 1st will be done. Reboot it and it'll detect the devices.
All you've got left is to install the custom apps, and configure email. If you're going to go thru the trouble of making MSI's for your apps, you may as well start using Active Directory's software install services as well. Then your users can just install their apps for themselves.
Things that often fall by the wayside in OEM systems:
* Input devices. Those cheap little OEM-rebranded mice and keyboards are often fragile, mushy things.
To be honest, I rather like Dell's new keyboards (the black ones). Nice soft feel to them. At any rate, just let your secretaries and transcriptionists keep their old keyboards, and everyone with a wheel or trackball keeps their old mouse, and all is well. Very few other people would even know the difference.
* Sound card/system: Unless this is sold as a gamer or music system (and the sound system is explicitly mentioned in the specs), you're probably looking at on-board sound. Not a huge deal, but you can be looking at a performance hit when playing lots of sounds in a game. In Linux, no existing sound architecture, including OSS, the kernel, ALSA, artsd, and esd has good support for use-all-existing-hardware-channels-then-transparen tly-fall-back-to-software-mixed-channels. You're then looking at all software or all hardware, so getting a bunch of channels can be nice. Hardware midi synth can be nice, but timidity's softsynth and a good soundfont pretty much put to shame the hardware synth I've seen.
We're talking business systems here. No worries of game playing. At most, we just need RealAudio/ Windows Media sounds, and MP3's.
* Hard drive: You do not want a bottom-of-the-line hard drive. It's not economical. If the current standard midrange size is 80GB, get an 80GB drive, not a 40GB. The small amount of savings you get for the large loss in space are not worth it.
I don't think business PC's should come with more than a 10GB (or less even) HDD. People shouldn't store things on their hard drive, it makes support a nightmare. Give em server space, and lock it with quotas. Very few office workers need more than 100MB in personal space. After that, it's time to clean it out or achive it.
* Speakers: OEM speakers are pretty much bad, unless you're getting a high-end system.
Do your cube farm cohorts a favor and pull all speakers out of there. Give them $5 mono (so they can talk on the phone, listen to office chatter, etc.) headphones instead.
*RAM: still not that good. For example, CompUSA is selling [compusa.com] this system with WinXP and yet only 128MB of RAM.
Good point. You should upgrade the RAM with Crucial memory after receiving the machines. Go with at least 128MB for Win9x, 256MB for Win2K, and 384MB+ for WinXP (if you're actually running that POS for some reason). Get it from Crucial and save the extra $100 bucks the OEM would've charged you.
* Ethernet cards: to most people, these are pretty interchangeable. I've had some bad experiences and now only use 3com. You aren't going to be getting a 3com card in an OEM system.
I've never known Dell to not use a 3Com NIC. True, their integrated ones are a 3C920, but they're pretty good. For around $50, you can go with an industry standard 3Com 3C905C.
* Modem: If you're buying OEM, you're going to get a Winmodem. Most of these are useless in Linux. They slow down the machine (yes, I know that it isn't necessarily a massive chunk of the processor any more, but it does count). Poorly written drivers may take over the machine while dialing or give you stability problems, both of which I've run into.
Though I historically despise Winmodems, they're more than decent enough for occassional use on a business system. Who doesn't have at least DSL anymore? Only older programs still use modems, and they're relatively few and far between. If someone really uses a modem, leave off the internal Winmodem one and get an external USRobotics. Otherwise, stay away from Dell's USRobotics hardware PCI modem, as it goes on Com5, which causes problems with most older apps.
* Monitor: OEMs are absolutely awful here. Worst point. If you're buying an OEM system, your chance of getting a refurbished monitor is very very good. These are absolute crap -- the failure rate is ridiculous. I've lost count of how many Gateway (a particularly egregious offender) monitors I've seen die.
Reuse the old monitors. Also, keep a few in stock for quick replacements when they do die. Most users will stick with 800x600 on a 17", and 1024x768 on a 19"+ anyways, so the clarity isn't too big an issue. Only your heavy spreadsheet users and graphics pros need a really good monitor.
As for Linux compatibility, that would be nice, but is mostly irrelevant since he's already said that it's a Win2K shop. Keep it in the back of your mind, but, for the most part, you'll only need to replace a very few components if you ever migrate. Minus the OS licensing fees, you'll still save a boatload of money.
Your arguments may be valid for a home system, but a business PC is completely different. Most of the points you brought up are simply not relevant for an office worker's PC.
The point remains, however, that the poster knew the problem was a bandwidth cap and either wanted it lifted or had questions on the policy. I simply used that as an example of when NOT to call tech support.
If, however, someone truly had poor connections, and did not know the reason, then it's entirely appropiate for them to contact their ISP's tech support.
As for the ISP referring the customer to their OEM, that's entirely possible. Doesn't make it right (unless the ISP's network is fine, and it's a driver, OEM installed NIC, or OS settings that is causing the problem), but it is possible. That's a bad tech. Simple as that.
Can you let us know the name of the outfit you work for so none of us ever have to deal with a company who doesn't fire the likes you within two or three days of you hitting the phone? Thanks heaps,
Deal, but only if you agree to listen to me when I tell you that the problem isn't on my end, and that I'm only calling you to make you aware of the problem so you can start working on it.
Don't keep me on the phone for 20 minutes (putting me on hold every 2), keep telling me that the problem is on my end, only to eventually tell me "Oh, whoops! My bad. The problem is on our end. Sorry 'bout that. I guess it's an outage/widespread problem/etc. We'll get right on it. Call back in a couple of hours for a status update if the service isn't restored."
Not a problem with me. I can tell the difference between your connection being down and an outage. Not that it makes much difference, mind you. In most places, there's very little I can do about an outage. I just report them the same as you. Nothing more than a message taker.
On the contrary, you DON'T have monitoring systems in place for most problems. You find out there's a problem when the call queue jumps from 10 to 200 in the span of 30 seconds. After you field a few calls, then you know precicely what the problem is.
If that's the case, then just realize that we're still aware of the problem. No reason for you to call, and then bitch about being on hold for 30 minutes!
And try to make me go through them anyway. Might as well save yourself the trouble and skip the whole 'checklist' part; it's just an added step for you.
That's where me and some other colleagues differ. The way I read the rules and regs, I just have to make sure you try the listed steps. I could care less whether you tried them before you called me or not. However, depending on your attitude, I may think you're lying if I have to ask you each step and you just huff and puff and say "I already treid that". Mention them to me BEFORE I bring them up, however, and you're almost guaranteed to not have to do them with me.
Some of my colleagues think the regs say that you must try them with them on the phone. Once again, they're not out to be sadists, just trying to protect their job. So, you got two options. 1, don't do the troubleshooting until you get a tech on the phone. 2, hang up and call back, hoping for a tech with a different POV. 3, grab a beer, wait an appropiate amount of time between steps, and lie through your teeth.
Also, remember that part of our metrics is how many times parts got sent out that didn't need to be. So, if a part gets sent out, and you call again still saying it's not working, that goes on the record. Also, the amount of parts sent out needs to be in line with the average, so we can't just send out parts willy-nilly. Once again, it's about protecting our job. Work with us, however, and you'll probably have a much better experience.
Deal, so long as that step is actually pertinent to the problem. If I'm calling because my mouse isn't working, expect me to tell you where you can shove your script when you start suggesting that I check the connections on my monitor. Might as well have me go check the level of my transmission fluid, or whether or not my dog has to go for a walk, since it's just as relevant.
Hey, I'll agree with you here too. I will have to admit, however, that Dell's scripts are above average in pertinent solutions. And that the scripts do solve 85% of the problems in less time than even a competent tech would be able to. I still use some parts of the scripts today when I'm troubleshooting a PC. Of course, you still need a competant tech to figure out WHICH script applies.
Oh, and give me this bone as well. Realize that while you may have seen 25 PC's fail to POST this year, I've troubleshooted somewhere around 1500. And, of those 1500, probably 800 were a loose power connection. And another 300 were loose CPU's. Not everything is an RMA. And even if it is, I still have to find out what part to RMA. And, I've led everything between 85 year old grandmas to 11 year old kids in troubleshooting POSTs and even replacing motherboards, as well. So, just realize that I may have a bit of experience and knowledge (gasp! probably even more than most!) in this area.
I can't argue much with the crux of your argument, that you are a helpless drone in a poorly run company. You're right. You win. Congratulations.
Very good. Now if everybody was to realize that, hold times might go down and you may actually be able to get some decent support (on supported products, mind you) on the other end of the phone.
I wish that were the case I've seen nocs utterly slack after midnight PST. Haven't you?
NOCs for a reputable provider? Not bloody likely. NOCs for a local provider? Absolutely. But, then, they're also the least likely to care when you call too. Or, only computer operators are there and they won't do anything about it until the network admin gets in at 8am. And he would've noticed it anyways. And, if your provider needs customers to tell them when a critical piece of infrastructure fails, then you may want to switch providers. Now, if it's just your line, feel free to call. No one may have noticed yet.
Also, if it's after midnight, feel free to call about just about anything. We get bored playing Solitaire and surfing Slashdot all night you know.:)
You and the management that spawned you are the reason tech support sucks, this attitude that the customer is always wrong, and that if the problem is not defined by your narrow job description, then its not the company's problem.
I'll break it down real simple for you. First off, the customer is not always wrong, nor did I state or imply that. Secondly, it may very well be my company's problem, but it sure as hell ain't mine. I'm not here to take your misguided abuse of my company, there are many more people more qualified and better paid to bitch at. I don't make any decisions, nor does anyone in my company give a flying shit about what I have to say, so you're wasting your breath and many other paying customers time with your complaints.
There is nothing mre ridiiculous than telling a customer "That's not my department".
And there's nothing more ridiculous than calling tech support for a customer service problem or complaint. There's a reason tech support lines are long and the quality sucks. One of those reasons is that people call tech support when they shouldn't. This drives up costs for the company (passed along to the customer) and ensures below par technicians because half of them are dealing with non tech support related issues.
If they are calling with regards to your company, it is your department.
You got the wrong department, bud. Customer service and management are the ones who are paid to deal with complaints. They're also the ones that are actually able to do something about it. Tech support is paid to fix problems, period. If it's not a technical problem, then save everyone on hold behind you the trouble, and don't call technical support! If you're not sure, call customer service or the operator and they'll let you know. That's what they're there for, you know. Plus the hold times are much shorter (probably because everyone calls tech support first).
If you can't help them, get them in touch with someone who can.
I always refer people to customer service. Even so, that takes about 10 minutes (7.5 minutes for the customer to bitch and complain, 1.5 minutes for them to exhaustively explain the problem, 1 more minute for them to bitch and complain before they're transferred or given the number to call). That's around $50 to tell someone what they could've figured out with half a brain and a working eardrum to listen to the automated menu prompts with.
Also, I am not an operator. My company employs operators for the sole purpose of directing phone calls. I neither have the training, the information, or the desire to do her job...nor am I paid to do her job.
Tech support is supposed to be working for the customer, not the other way around.
Just like you don't tell the Vice President of Global Operations when the toilet's clogged, you don't call tech support when your order hasn't been shipped yet. There's a reason there are departments within a company. It helps the customer. Now only if all the customers could realize that, maybe we all might get better tech support.
It's customers like you who feel because the company makes a razor thin 3.5% profit margin on an item, that you're entitled to technical support from here to eternity with every stinking little problem you have (whether it's a technical problem, a problem with somebody elses product, or a complaint), that makes tech support suck for the rest of us more knowledgeable customers. Not to mention that customer's abusive nature is probably one of the top 3 reasons why tech support employees get burnt out after Do you call your car manafacturer when your car won't start? Or maybe do you check that you're using the right key? How about when you're oven doesn't work? Maybe you check the circuit breaker? Why can't people apply the same logic to computers!?
WHAT? We've lost about $6000, because WE had to self support us (hire someone knowlegeable).
And you still have lost that amount if you keep the fix to yourself. There's no loss to you in reporting the fix.
The prodcut didn't specify it was not Sendmail 8.12 compatible, not that it wouldn't run on anything other than RedHat, nor that SSL was unplanned.
Okay, I'll give you SendMail 8.11 and only working with RedHat as requirements that should've been mentioned. Or was it before SendMail 8.12? It kind of sounds like it was from the email exchanges. In that case, you've only got the RedHat bone to bitch at. Nobody ever states whether a particular feature is unplanned! Now, if they said SSL support due in version 2, or whatever, then you could make a complaint about that.
I contribute to free solutions and am happy to help when something does not work. For a paid, supported product, i expect a profesional answer and a working solution.
You got your solution, it just wasn't the one you wanted. The solution was SendMail 8.11 and RedHat.
We sound a problem (ie: the antivirus forced us to use a compromised Sendmail version, no SSL and the NEED to use Red Hat). After solving all the issue ourselves (slackware, sendmail 8.12 and ssl where "unsopported") they wanted us to send them all the answers. Is this what we expect to receive from paid services or software?
Yes, you should send them the answers. Seeing as how you're using unsupported versions, you're not entitled to complain about not receiving support. However, since you have the answers, giving them to Trend would probably change your versions to supported. And help out others in the process. Oh yeah, and you don't lose anything in the process. What's the problem with that?
No reason to tell them about Linux. You dual boot with Win98, just boot into it. Or are you just trying to impress them with your Linux skillz?
Seriously, having worked tech support, there are things that will get you thrown off the line pretty immediately. That's because we could be fired for supporting an unsupported issue (and there's always the possibility my manager has tapped the call). If you're knowledgeable, I could care less if you're lying to me. As a matter of fact, it's easier for me. I can just tell you to make sure you're set for DHCP instead of leading you thru each click of the mouse. But, once you tell me (for instance) that you're running Linux, I have to let you go. Not my choice, bud.
Besides, bandwidth caps aren't a tech support question. That's a question for customer service. Tech support can't lift your bandwidth caps, nor do they care to hear you complain about them. While I'm at it, here's a few other things that should go to tech support.
If you're pissed off and angry at the company, call customer service. Not tech support. I'm paid to fix things, not listen to you complain.
If you're too busy to work with me on the phone, call a 3rd party tech, or get your secretary to call.
If you're not in front of your computer, don't bother calling me at all.
If you're too smart to listen to me and my steps, then fix it yourself.
If you're pissed because you don't get onsite tech support until I say so, call customer service. I didn't sell you the thing, nor did I promise you onsite service.
If you're missing something from your order, call customer service.
If you're just going to bitch about hold times (thereby ensuring higher hold times for everyone behind you), call at 3am.
If you're just calling to let us know a router/server/etc. is down, rest assured that as a multimillion dollar corporation, we have monitoring systems in place and someone already knows.
If you want to know about spare or replacement parts, or want to order something, call sales.
If you just want an RMA, tell me all the steps you've already tried so I can mark them off the checklist. And if you're BSing me, then you better not get caught, or else I have to make you go theough the whole damn thing again. Oh, and if you missed a step, don't be pissed when I insist you try it.
Next time, just tell them that a Cisco router can and will connect without a PC attached. If it won't do that, then it's either router misconfig or a line problem.
Case in point: Here in Winnipeg is a company called "Convergys" -- they do tech support for several ISPs throughout North America. One of my friends recently got a job there doing phone-based technical support for Shaw. Now, this individual knows computer basics, but has NO clue what a router is, what IP tables are, DNS servers...
Disclaimer: I worked for Convergys in Florida doing Dell tech support. While I hated the job, I'm appeciative of the experience. Nowhere else will you get 130 trouble calls a week that need to be solved in
I fail to see why front line tech support for an ISP (presumably dial up) needs to know routers and IP tables. You could make an argument for DNS servers, though they really only need to make sure they are getting the correct addresses thru DHCP. Anything more than that, and that's what networking guys are for.
95% of the time (or more), people calling tech support don't need tech support, they need computer training. That's why Dell needs 10 call centers across the country. Not to deal with problems, but to deal with user error, misinformation, etc. Maybe if there was some sort of chargeback system where if the problem is not the vendor's fault, the cost of the call gets billed to the customer would solve that issue.
Hiring a junior network engineer, even at $20/hour, is extreme overkill for a tech support position. Most of the calls will be handled by a reboot, reinstall of drivers/software/OS, or a quick search on Technet.
I've never used this thing, my only experience with the exchange client is that's the thing that sends e-mails that implement ancient header extensions that are only supported for backwards compatability and the occational need to set up a webserver for the exchange users that can't get attachments. What does it do that IMAP doesn't? Does it compress internal spam e-mails? anything else?
What does Exchange do that so many people want? In 1 word: calendaring. Exchange calendars (with Outlook clients, natch) are pretty versatile. You can have Public Folder calendars (for meeting rooms, vacations, etc.), as well as personal calendars. Personal calendars can be opened up for other users to view and/or edit. There's ACLs to determine who gets what, so your underlings can view where you're at, but only your secretary can add/edit events. Add to that the ability to send/receive meeting requests and add them to your calendar. It's pretty nice. Oh, and Exchange 2000 piggybacks on top of Windows 2000's Active Directory user database too.
Of course, I too am always interested in a more cost effective solution. Alot of the SMB market don't want to pay for Exchange, but want most of the features of it. And want to use Outlook as the client.
"You don't think people buy Windows because Microsoft has a monopoly?" Mr. Hodges asked.
Mr. Jones answered: "I don't think people buy Windows because Microsoft is a monopoly. I go to work every day to build great products that people are going to love."
Jones should have answered: "No, people don't buy Windows because Microsoft has a monopoly. Microsoft has a "monopoly" because people buy Windows."
Well, nobody asked for them in any particular order! Besides, the hints wer wrong as police is not a member of the federal government, and is thus not a part of the executive branch.:)
a "private organization/person" cannot make anybody do anything by using the courts... why? you may ask?
it's called authority, and the only entity that has any authority is called the government: they right the laws, they interpret the laws, they enforce the laws...
Technically, you're correct. A judgment in civil court is worthless if the loser refuses to honor it, and the courts refuse to pressure them (garnishing wages, contempt of court, etc.). However, this being not only a contract dispute (a clear civil case), but also a copyright dispute...would this be heard in a criminal court? Would you be prosecuted by the state or federal governments on this?
IANAL, but I'd guess that you could actually be sued under both civil and criminal statutes for this. The odds of the state or federal government taking it up, however, are slim to none...they seem quite busy as it is.
So, we're back to a civil case. So, let's say the BSA takes you to court, and wins a judgment for $500,000. If you don't have $500,000, then they can't do much about it, can they? The police can't collect, and there isn't a debtor's prison anymore. If you have it though, and refuse to pay it, the courts can authorize it to be seized. Then, the police can get involved.
So, to answer your question, the BSA is not authorized by the government. They are looking for civil infractions, not criminal ones. Do they have gov't cooperation? Probably.
$1 for each branch of the US government that does the above if you can name them. hints: congress, courts, police)
That would be legislative, executive, and judicial. And, Constitutionally speaking, neither has the right to do the job of the others. That's seperation of powers (aka checks and balances). In the real world, however, things are a lot murkier. You can send that $3 via PayPal. Thanks.:)
How about if I change your line to:
Volvo: Buy CD from any manufacturer and play it.
MSCar: Buy CD from any other manufacturer, you have to replace the CD drive, which will cause the car to malfunction (It's integrated with the chime that tells you the lights are still on, the horn, and of course the computer that controls the air/fuel mix).
And how about if I change your line to:
Volvo: Buy fuel injection system from any other manafacturer, you have to replace the fuel pump, which will cause the car to malfunction (it's integrated with the fuel gauge, the ECM, and, of course, the emissions control system).
But the point is not whether or not you can actually buy it, but whether or not Ford prohibits it. Ford does not, if people wanted to start selling 'Ford with Mercedes engine' cars, they could do so. It's much more expensive than using standard parts, and no one really wants it, so they don't, but they could.
Whereas you cannot buy Windows without IE, or WMP.
Just like you cannot buy a Ford Explorer from a Ford dealer (read OEM) without a Ford engine. Or Ford seats. Or Ford sheetmetal. Sure, you could buy from somebody else that has stripped a Ford Explorer and is just reusing the body.
But, then I could buy Windows from somebody else that has stripped out IE or WMP. Just not from Microsoft or one of it's OEMs (read: dealer).
I don't want DellXP, CompaqXP, MSXP, GatewayXP. I don't want a stripped down car either.
Many other people do. Having options makes some decisions harder, but our lives are better as a result. I'd rather have 10 models to choose from than one. Let the companies scramble for my business, and let me put them in their place. This is what happens when the free market is in good health.
Obviously, not enough people want those options to create a viable market. Most users are convinced that Windows is fine. And it is. It allows them the greatest selection of software available. It's relatively cheap, and is even subsidized on new PC purchases (how most people get PC's and an OS). It's easy to use, and easy to program for. Very few people would buy a PC and load their own OS on it. Windows widespread adoption and "monopolistic" behaivor has advanced the computer industry more than 20 years of UNIX. The market needed a product like Windows, and Windows filled that need. That's how a free market works.
The technology industry is notorious for not being able to settle on standards...do you really think the OS market would be any different? Do you really want a fragmented OS market, with only 10% of the available software for each OS? Do you really want to have to pay 10x as much for software, because of economies of scale (not to mention time spent porting to other OS's)?
Oh, and all roads don't lead to Microsoft. There's alternative roads. There's BSD, there's Linux, there's Solaris, there's OSX, there's even 4DOS. Just don't expect that your choices come without consequences. That's unreasonable.
When what I'm buying is selling for its true market value. Operating systems used to be expensive, but the market has spoken/
Obviously, Windows TMV is exactly what it's selling for. Proof? It's selling more copies than any other OS' combined. Just because the market set a price you don't feel is worth it, doesn't mean the market is wrong. The market has spoken, and the word is "Windows".
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The other HARD indisputable fact is that 90% of the taxes will never be spent in ways to benefit me. They will, however, be spent in ways to benefit the upper income levels.
Hmmm...Conservatives often spout that belief, but, for the life of me, I can't figure out how that could possibly be. In the end, both the dollar spent by the private sector and the dollar spent by the government end up back in the economy, to be recycled again thru both private and governmental spending yet again.
If you're talking savings (or, in effect, taking 10% of the dollar out of the economy--IIRC, that's the amount banks are req'd to keep on hand), then I'd have to say that the gov't "saving" the dollar is more beneficial to the economy. After all, we all know that the gov't (the US, at least) doesn't even know how to save...yet, obviously Microsoft does. Gov't savings are used to buy back T-bonds from investors, who then reinvest or spend that money. MS's savings (a portion of at least) is sitting in a bank, with only 90% available for reinvestment.
Rebuttal?
And it's not required. It's only required if you want the Windows shell to work. Go ahead, try it. Open your system.ini, find the line shell=explorer.exe and change it to shell=progman.exe. Now just delete iexplore.exe and the IE DLL files (major one that comes to mind is shlwapi.dll). Reboot, and you'll be looking at Windows 3.x Program Manager goodness! Gives you all the functionality (and then some) of an OS to boot. If you're really hardcore, just boot to DOS.
You're right, KDE isn't an OS. But, then again, neither is Windows 9x. DOS is the OS, Windows is a shell (or window manager). Of course, consumers don't know the distinction, and they all expect a modern OS to have an integrated GUI. Windows is the GUI, just like KDE is a GUI for Linux (there's no reason to get into X, Gnome, etc.). Linux will run without without a browser, without KDE, and even without X. But, then, so will Windows (don't believe me? just rename c:\windows\win.com and reboot...). Of course, Windows program won't run, but then neither will KDE programs run without KDE.
I'd say for an apples to apples comparison (at as close as you can get at least), KDE(+X+Linux) is equal to Windows 9x.
That's irrelavant in this instance. He wasn't aksed to name another monopoly OS. For that matter, it'd be an oxymoron to have 2 different monopoly OS's, wouldn't it?
Bah. See above.
400MHz machines are plenty fast for standard office fare. Stick in 256MB of RAM, and they'll be fine. If they're still a little sluggish, it's probably just time for that annual Windows reinstall.
Bah. The first RIS job I did will be my last one. At least until I have to do > 100 PC's. I never did figure out all the problems we had with that install (project got pulled in the middle of it due to layoffs), but I think our Cisco switches did not like the DHCP requests from trying to boot off the network. About 35% of the machines had to be rebooted 5+ times in order to get a lease. And, even after it loaded (which took a god awful long time), we still had to configure each PC (for Outlook, custom apps, etc.)!
For the 15-20 PC's he's talking about, I think RIS is a little too much. Just make 2 images (assuming no SCSI drives), one for ACPI compliant PC's and one for APM PC's (assuming you have any), install your common programs (Office and the like) and sysprep them. Then just Ghost from a network server. That's the cheap, slow way to do it. Oh, and it'll also clog the network so you may want to do it off hours. Just make sure your server can support multiple streams (or use a few servers), or it'll REALLY slow you down. I'd suggest using Bart's network boot disk to boot from (hopefully you have supported NICs, most major ones are) and then you can assign an IP if you have trouble with DHCP.
Or, if your cases are easy to work with (most recent OEMs, barring HP and Compaq, are) Ghost from a few internal hdds (much, much faster). Just give each of your tech 3 hdd's and 3 preconfigured Ghost floppies to boot from (start Ghost in the autoexec.bat file). By the time they've started the 3rd install, the 1st will be done. Reboot it and it'll detect the devices.
All you've got left is to install the custom apps, and configure email. If you're going to go thru the trouble of making MSI's for your apps, you may as well start using Active Directory's software install services as well. Then your users can just install their apps for themselves.
To be honest, I rather like Dell's new keyboards (the black ones). Nice soft feel to them. At any rate, just let your secretaries and transcriptionists keep their old keyboards, and everyone with a wheel or trackball keeps their old mouse, and all is well. Very few other people would even know the difference.
We're talking business systems here. No worries of game playing. At most, we just need RealAudio/ Windows Media sounds, and MP3's.
I don't think business PC's should come with more than a 10GB (or less even) HDD. People shouldn't store things on their hard drive, it makes support a nightmare. Give em server space, and lock it with quotas. Very few office workers need more than 100MB in personal space. After that, it's time to clean it out or achive it.
Do your cube farm cohorts a favor and pull all speakers out of there. Give them $5 mono (so they can talk on the phone, listen to office chatter, etc.) headphones instead.
Good point. You should upgrade the RAM with Crucial memory after receiving the machines. Go with at least 128MB for Win9x, 256MB for Win2K, and 384MB+ for WinXP (if you're actually running that POS for some reason). Get it from Crucial and save the extra $100 bucks the OEM would've charged you.
I've never known Dell to not use a 3Com NIC. True, their integrated ones are a 3C920, but they're pretty good. For around $50, you can go with an industry standard 3Com 3C905C.
Though I historically despise Winmodems, they're more than decent enough for occassional use on a business system. Who doesn't have at least DSL anymore? Only older programs still use modems, and they're relatively few and far between. If someone really uses a modem, leave off the internal Winmodem one and get an external USRobotics. Otherwise, stay away from Dell's USRobotics hardware PCI modem, as it goes on Com5, which causes problems with most older apps.
Reuse the old monitors. Also, keep a few in stock for quick replacements when they do die. Most users will stick with 800x600 on a 17", and 1024x768 on a 19"+ anyways, so the clarity isn't too big an issue. Only your heavy spreadsheet users and graphics pros need a really good monitor.
As for Linux compatibility, that would be nice, but is mostly irrelevant since he's already said that it's a Win2K shop. Keep it in the back of your mind, but, for the most part, you'll only need to replace a very few components if you ever migrate. Minus the OS licensing fees, you'll still save a boatload of money.
Your arguments may be valid for a home system, but a business PC is completely different. Most of the points you brought up are simply not relevant for an office worker's PC.
If, however, someone truly had poor connections, and did not know the reason, then it's entirely appropiate for them to contact their ISP's tech support.
As for the ISP referring the customer to their OEM, that's entirely possible. Doesn't make it right (unless the ISP's network is fine, and it's a driver, OEM installed NIC, or OS settings that is causing the problem), but it is possible. That's a bad tech. Simple as that.
Sure, the company is called Dell Computer Corp.
Not a problem with me. I can tell the difference between your connection being down and an outage. Not that it makes much difference, mind you. In most places, there's very little I can do about an outage. I just report them the same as you. Nothing more than a message taker.
If that's the case, then just realize that we're still aware of the problem. No reason for you to call, and then bitch about being on hold for 30 minutes!
That's where me and some other colleagues differ. The way I read the rules and regs, I just have to make sure you try the listed steps. I could care less whether you tried them before you called me or not. However, depending on your attitude, I may think you're lying if I have to ask you each step and you just huff and puff and say "I already treid that". Mention them to me BEFORE I bring them up, however, and you're almost guaranteed to not have to do them with me.
Some of my colleagues think the regs say that you must try them with them on the phone. Once again, they're not out to be sadists, just trying to protect their job. So, you got two options. 1, don't do the troubleshooting until you get a tech on the phone. 2, hang up and call back, hoping for a tech with a different POV. 3, grab a beer, wait an appropiate amount of time between steps, and lie through your teeth.
Also, remember that part of our metrics is how many times parts got sent out that didn't need to be. So, if a part gets sent out, and you call again still saying it's not working, that goes on the record. Also, the amount of parts sent out needs to be in line with the average, so we can't just send out parts willy-nilly. Once again, it's about protecting our job. Work with us, however, and you'll probably have a much better experience.
Hey, I'll agree with you here too. I will have to admit, however, that Dell's scripts are above average in pertinent solutions. And that the scripts do solve 85% of the problems in less time than even a competent tech would be able to. I still use some parts of the scripts today when I'm troubleshooting a PC. Of course, you still need a competant tech to figure out WHICH script applies.
Oh, and give me this bone as well. Realize that while you may have seen 25 PC's fail to POST this year, I've troubleshooted somewhere around 1500. And, of those 1500, probably 800 were a loose power connection. And another 300 were loose CPU's. Not everything is an RMA. And even if it is, I still have to find out what part to RMA. And, I've led everything between 85 year old grandmas to 11 year old kids in troubleshooting POSTs and even replacing motherboards, as well. So, just realize that I may have a bit of experience and knowledge (gasp! probably even more than most!) in this area.
Very good. Now if everybody was to realize that, hold times might go down and you may actually be able to get some decent support (on supported products, mind you) on the other end of the phone.
NOCs for a reputable provider? Not bloody likely. NOCs for a local provider? Absolutely. But, then, they're also the least likely to care when you call too. Or, only computer operators are there and they won't do anything about it until the network admin gets in at 8am. And he would've noticed it anyways. And, if your provider needs customers to tell them when a critical piece of infrastructure fails, then you may want to switch providers. Now, if it's just your line, feel free to call. No one may have noticed yet. Also, if it's after midnight, feel free to call about just about anything. We get bored playing Solitaire and surfing Slashdot all night you know. :)
I'll break it down real simple for you. First off, the customer is not always wrong, nor did I state or imply that. Secondly, it may very well be my company's problem, but it sure as hell ain't mine. I'm not here to take your misguided abuse of my company, there are many more people more qualified and better paid to bitch at. I don't make any decisions, nor does anyone in my company give a flying shit about what I have to say, so you're wasting your breath and many other paying customers time with your complaints.
And there's nothing more ridiculous than calling tech support for a customer service problem or complaint. There's a reason tech support lines are long and the quality sucks. One of those reasons is that people call tech support when they shouldn't. This drives up costs for the company (passed along to the customer) and ensures below par technicians because half of them are dealing with non tech support related issues.
You got the wrong department, bud. Customer service and management are the ones who are paid to deal with complaints. They're also the ones that are actually able to do something about it. Tech support is paid to fix problems, period. If it's not a technical problem, then save everyone on hold behind you the trouble, and don't call technical support! If you're not sure, call customer service or the operator and they'll let you know. That's what they're there for, you know. Plus the hold times are much shorter (probably because everyone calls tech support first).I always refer people to customer service. Even so, that takes about 10 minutes (7.5 minutes for the customer to bitch and complain, 1.5 minutes for them to exhaustively explain the problem, 1 more minute for them to bitch and complain before they're transferred or given the number to call). That's around $50 to tell someone what they could've figured out with half a brain and a working eardrum to listen to the automated menu prompts with.
Also, I am not an operator. My company employs operators for the sole purpose of directing phone calls. I neither have the training, the information, or the desire to do her job...nor am I paid to do her job.
Just like you don't tell the Vice President of Global Operations when the toilet's clogged, you don't call tech support when your order hasn't been shipped yet. There's a reason there are departments within a company. It helps the customer. Now only if all the customers could realize that, maybe we all might get better tech support.
It's customers like you who feel because the company makes a razor thin 3.5% profit margin on an item, that you're entitled to technical support from here to eternity with every stinking little problem you have (whether it's a technical problem, a problem with somebody elses product, or a complaint), that makes tech support suck for the rest of us more knowledgeable customers. Not to mention that customer's abusive nature is probably one of the top 3 reasons why tech support employees get burnt out after Do you call your car manafacturer when your car won't start? Or maybe do you check that you're using the right key? How about when you're oven doesn't work? Maybe you check the circuit breaker? Why can't people apply the same logic to computers!?
And you still have lost that amount if you keep the fix to yourself. There's no loss to you in reporting the fix.
Okay, I'll give you SendMail 8.11 and only working with RedHat as requirements that should've been mentioned. Or was it before SendMail 8.12? It kind of sounds like it was from the email exchanges. In that case, you've only got the RedHat bone to bitch at. Nobody ever states whether a particular feature is unplanned! Now, if they said SSL support due in version 2, or whatever, then you could make a complaint about that.
You got your solution, it just wasn't the one you wanted. The solution was SendMail 8.11 and RedHat.
Yes, you should send them the answers. Seeing as how you're using unsupported versions, you're not entitled to complain about not receiving support. However, since you have the answers, giving them to Trend would probably change your versions to supported. And help out others in the process. Oh yeah, and you don't lose anything in the process. What's the problem with that?
Seriously, having worked tech support, there are things that will get you thrown off the line pretty immediately. That's because we could be fired for supporting an unsupported issue (and there's always the possibility my manager has tapped the call). If you're knowledgeable, I could care less if you're lying to me. As a matter of fact, it's easier for me. I can just tell you to make sure you're set for DHCP instead of leading you thru each click of the mouse. But, once you tell me (for instance) that you're running Linux, I have to let you go. Not my choice, bud.
Besides, bandwidth caps aren't a tech support question. That's a question for customer service. Tech support can't lift your bandwidth caps, nor do they care to hear you complain about them. While I'm at it, here's a few other things that should go to tech support.
If you're pissed off and angry at the company, call customer service. Not tech support. I'm paid to fix things, not listen to you complain.
If you're too busy to work with me on the phone, call a 3rd party tech, or get your secretary to call.
If you're not in front of your computer, don't bother calling me at all.
If you're too smart to listen to me and my steps, then fix it yourself.
If you're pissed because you don't get onsite tech support until I say so, call customer service. I didn't sell you the thing, nor did I promise you onsite service.
If you're missing something from your order, call customer service.
If you're just going to bitch about hold times (thereby ensuring higher hold times for everyone behind you), call at 3am.
If you're just calling to let us know a router/server/etc. is down, rest assured that as a multimillion dollar corporation, we have monitoring systems in place and someone already knows.
If you want to know about spare or replacement parts, or want to order something, call sales.
If you just want an RMA, tell me all the steps you've already tried so I can mark them off the checklist. And if you're BSing me, then you better not get caught, or else I have to make you go theough the whole damn thing again. Oh, and if you missed a step, don't be pissed when I insist you try it.
Guess that sort of turned into a rant, eh?
Next time, just tell them that a Cisco router can and will connect without a PC attached. If it won't do that, then it's either router misconfig or a line problem.
Disclaimer: I worked for Convergys in Florida doing Dell tech support. While I hated the job, I'm appeciative of the experience. Nowhere else will you get 130 trouble calls a week that need to be solved in I fail to see why front line tech support for an ISP (presumably dial up) needs to know routers and IP tables. You could make an argument for DNS servers, though they really only need to make sure they are getting the correct addresses thru DHCP. Anything more than that, and that's what networking guys are for.
95% of the time (or more), people calling tech support don't need tech support, they need computer training. That's why Dell needs 10 call centers across the country. Not to deal with problems, but to deal with user error, misinformation, etc. Maybe if there was some sort of chargeback system where if the problem is not the vendor's fault, the cost of the call gets billed to the customer would solve that issue.
Hiring a junior network engineer, even at $20/hour, is extreme overkill for a tech support position. Most of the calls will be handled by a reboot, reinstall of drivers/software/OS, or a quick search on Technet.
What does Exchange do that so many people want? In 1 word: calendaring. Exchange calendars (with Outlook clients, natch) are pretty versatile. You can have Public Folder calendars (for meeting rooms, vacations, etc.), as well as personal calendars. Personal calendars can be opened up for other users to view and/or edit. There's ACLs to determine who gets what, so your underlings can view where you're at, but only your secretary can add/edit events. Add to that the ability to send/receive meeting requests and add them to your calendar. It's pretty nice. Oh, and Exchange 2000 piggybacks on top of Windows 2000's Active Directory user database too.
Of course, I too am always interested in a more cost effective solution. Alot of the SMB market don't want to pay for Exchange, but want most of the features of it. And want to use Outlook as the client.
Well, nobody asked for them in any particular order! Besides, the hints wer wrong as police is not a member of the federal government, and is thus not a part of the executive branch. :)
Technically, you're correct. A judgment in civil court is worthless if the loser refuses to honor it, and the courts refuse to pressure them (garnishing wages, contempt of court, etc.). However, this being not only a contract dispute (a clear civil case), but also a copyright dispute...would this be heard in a criminal court? Would you be prosecuted by the state or federal governments on this?
IANAL, but I'd guess that you could actually be sued under both civil and criminal statutes for this. The odds of the state or federal government taking it up, however, are slim to none...they seem quite busy as it is.
So, we're back to a civil case. So, let's say the BSA takes you to court, and wins a judgment for $500,000. If you don't have $500,000, then they can't do much about it, can they? The police can't collect, and there isn't a debtor's prison anymore. If you have it though, and refuse to pay it, the courts can authorize it to be seized. Then, the police can get involved.
So, to answer your question, the BSA is not authorized by the government. They are looking for civil infractions, not criminal ones. Do they have gov't cooperation? Probably.
That would be legislative, executive, and judicial. And, Constitutionally speaking, neither has the right to do the job of the others. That's seperation of powers (aka checks and balances). In the real world, however, things are a lot murkier. You can send that $3 via PayPal. Thanks. :)
And how about if I change your line to:
Volvo: Buy fuel injection system from any other manafacturer, you have to replace the fuel pump, which will cause the car to malfunction (it's integrated with the fuel gauge, the ECM, and, of course, the emissions control system).
Just like you cannot buy a Ford Explorer from a Ford dealer (read OEM) without a Ford engine. Or Ford seats. Or Ford sheetmetal. Sure, you could buy from somebody else that has stripped a Ford Explorer and is just reusing the body.
But, then I could buy Windows from somebody else that has stripped out IE or WMP. Just not from Microsoft or one of it's OEMs (read: dealer).
Obviously, not enough people want those options to create a viable market. Most users are convinced that Windows is fine. And it is. It allows them the greatest selection of software available. It's relatively cheap, and is even subsidized on new PC purchases (how most people get PC's and an OS). It's easy to use, and easy to program for. Very few people would buy a PC and load their own OS on it. Windows widespread adoption and "monopolistic" behaivor has advanced the computer industry more than 20 years of UNIX. The market needed a product like Windows, and Windows filled that need. That's how a free market works.
The technology industry is notorious for not being able to settle on standards...do you really think the OS market would be any different? Do you really want a fragmented OS market, with only 10% of the available software for each OS? Do you really want to have to pay 10x as much for software, because of economies of scale (not to mention time spent porting to other OS's)?
Oh, and all roads don't lead to Microsoft. There's alternative roads. There's BSD, there's Linux, there's Solaris, there's OSX, there's even 4DOS. Just don't expect that your choices come without consequences. That's unreasonable.
Obviously, Windows TMV is exactly what it's selling for. Proof? It's selling more copies than any other OS' combined. Just because the market set a price you don't feel is worth it, doesn't mean the market is wrong. The market has spoken, and the word is "Windows".