[geeks] are *BSD (and Linux) people "unhelpful"?

[Greg A. Woods]

[ On Wednesday, April 3, 2002 at 08:40:56 (-0600), Amy wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: [geeks] are *BSD (and Linux) people "unhelpful"?
>
> On Tue, 2 Apr 2002, Greg A. Woods wrote:
> >
> > I think the real answer is that most BSD users, and many "Linux" users,
> > simply help themselves -- i.e. are the self reliant kind.
> 
> you mean self-absorbed, self-centered, self-masturbatory...

No, I don't mean any of that, actually.

But you seem to think it applies!  :-)

> windows, for all of its annoyances, is an easy o/s to learn and to fix.
> you dont need to ask for help when it breaks.

my clients who actually support many M$-Windoze users beg to differ....  :-)

> the first time something breaks and some 17 year old unwashed git tells
> then to go RTFM, windows will go back on their little dell machine.
> windows users do not like being told to be self-reliant. they don't like
> to read incomprehensible 5" tomes, and they never let their husbands fix a
> lightbulb. they call an electrician instead.

Well, one of the problems with *BSD, Linux, and most "open" source
software (freeware, shareware, and whatever else it's been called over
the years) is that average end users tend to get the impression that
since it's free then the support should be free too.

Of course there's often good reason for them to get that impression
because some geek will tell them just to ask in some Usenet newsgroup or
some mailing list, or whatever.  However free advice is all too often
worth just exactly what you pay for it an nothing more, especially if
the geeks who hold that software dear to their hearts are miffed when
some "luser" asks an FAQ and apparently hasn't done their homework
first.  (the worst of course are those who literally have not read any
of the available documentation but expect their questions to be answered
even though that available documentation already contains a clear and
simple answer  --  they don't call 'em FAQs for nothing!  :-)

> if the help isn't available (nice help), average folks won't use it.

Well, if end users of open source software would somehow learn to
realise that they're only getting the research, development, and
maintenance for free, but they still have to pay for support, then we'd
be gettting somewhere.  There's _lots_ of VERY NICE help available for
*BSD and Linux and the like -- but it costs very real $$$ (and sometimes
very inflated $$$ because those offering such help are hoping to use the
resulting income to fund their own part time R&D efforts).

I don't know how to teach the masses to pay for support for free
software, though luckily I've found some (though not enough yet)
commercial clients who've already learned that lesson!  ;-)

-- 
								Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098;  <gwoods at acm.org>;  <g.a.woods at ieee.org>;  <woods at robohack.ca>
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