[geeks] Hosting - 600GB disk - 6000GB transfer - $8 - Catch?

[N. Miller]

On Oct 12, 2007, at 5:57 PM, Jonathan C. Patschke wrote:

> On Fri, 12 Oct 2007, N. Miller wrote:
>
>> I'd also concur with every single thing that Jonathan P. said about
>> client interactions.  It used to be that clients were willing to  
>> admit
>> they didn't know anything about networking/OSes/etc.
>
> Oh, I didn't mean it in that light at all.
>
> I meant it more that IT folks are responsible for a set of  
> services, and
> usually only meet with customers when those services break or don't  
> meet
> users' needs.  Since IT is responsible, they're to-blame, even if it's
> not their fault.
>
> In software, I'm completely external to the "how we got here" part of
> the problem.  My involvement is entirely on the "building new widgets"
> side.  That'll change with time, as my own creations start to grow  
> grey
> hair, but at least I have the option of building things robust enough
> and documenting them well enough to not bite me later.  IT just  
> doesn't
> have that luxury.  For example, when "the Internet is down" because  
> the
> ISP loses the one clue they rent, it's all over IT's face, even if  
> it's
> not their fault.

My original statement was unclear.  I meant, in *addition* to what  
you've said.  Yes, part of the problem is that IT is largely forced  
to be reactive (even though they don't have to be--thank you  
manglement)--so people show up at their doorstep already PO'd.  But I  
also think a part of the problem with mgmt/(l)users is they  
arrogantly think, as mentioned in the earlier thread on Facebook, due  
to their (small) understanding of some part of IT technology, it  
somehow gives them intimate understanding of all IT technology in a  
large enterprise.

Think about the number of times you've heard a user say, "I use X at  
home and it works fine, why can't we use it here?" or similar.  Where  
X equals something along the line of FTP, wireless, password  
management, non-work-related website, or whatever. (Ditto manglement  
buzzword addiction.)

When I worked at a place in the late 90's that didn't have Windows,  
people didn't fsck around much with their work machines.  When we  
added Windows to the mix, suddenly people became "experts" and  
started breaking things all the time.  IMO it had far more to do with  
the fact that people had Windows at home and thought they  
"understood" it, and so were more likely to screw around with things  
on their work machines and break them than with Mac & Solaris being  
more robust.

Obviously, I still have a lot of angst that's built up over the past  
~15 years of working in such dysfunctional, fsck'd up places.

=Nadine=