Installfest

[Peter]

On Mon, 9 May 2005, Jamon Camisso wrote:

>> By the same token, if we set up a lot of new linux users, without
>> considering their support environment, many will get lost , frustrated,
>> waste a lot of time, give up, run back to the borg, and never come back.

Simple facts:

- there exist no complex systems that do not need support
- the 'easy configuration' of the borg equipment is a myth. One week 
later, guess who is visiting the computer shop down the corner to remove 
popup ads and viruses - oops, $50 (at least)
- most advanced equipment allows remote support. This includes the borg 
equipment.

So, you should set up things such that you can dial into a user's 
computer and help him. Sending the wrong output from running the wrong 
program with the wrong arguments to an impatient mailing list is not a 
solution, it is a new problem.

So if you are serious about this, imho, try to make sure that new users 
have their machines set up to the 'network works' stage and promise them 
remote administration. And implement that using linux's excellent 
network capabilities.

Peter

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