Conversation
Notices
-
Would you push !gnu !linux to friends having frequent problems with their SO by denying them support for anything else?
Thursday, 26-Jan-12 08:58:11 UTC from web-
@bernat I do it this way all the time ;-) Or at least I force them to pay me a typical support price (15€/h) for supporting LegacyOS
-
I've tried that several times, but to no avail unfortunately.
-
@mvdan If you don't have to be MS/Apple customer service anymore and still keep your friends that's not a complete failure. :-)
-
@cyberkiller I don't think charging money would improve the situation.
-
@bernat it's like this: pay me for using LegacyOS, or get free support from me for GNU/Linux
-
@bernat I also refuse to help them at all if they got a pirated LegacyOS, I tell them to go buy it first or take the free GNU/Linux from me
-
@cyberkiller I know, but it's not so easy to explain why. They already think we're from out of this world. :-)
-
@cyberkiller When I say there's something better than Win2 they seem to think I'm brain-damaged (geek), but at least I can repair computers!
-
@bernat I learned not to talk that much, I just show them what awesome stuff I do with it & I don't mean the spinning cube ;-)
-
@cyberkiller, @gerlos People is like "if you use that then we can't use it, it's not for us, you know much more than we do".
-
@bernat I don't remember hearing anything like that in the past few years
-
@cyberkiller I'm talking about very non-tech friends.
-
@bernat you need to be more assertive - if you make your point clear and hard, they don't argue (also some just stop being your friends)
-
@bernat this is why I let them use it for themselves, without me. Most discover they can use it without any help, and ask me to install it.
-
Hahah, true.
-
@gerlos They won't touch it, remember, it has to be so hard... hehe. @cyberkiller I like to know how others deal with it.
-
I tell them that their OS is too complicated, illogical and ill-documented for me to fix it, they should contact their vendor support.
-
charge for supporting non-Free software for friends. Support their Free software for free if you like. (libre support is gratis)
Cyber Killer likes this. -
@manu Good one. I could tell them I'm not smart enough to use Windows, that might grab their attention. :)
faither likes this. -
I just tell people I don’t use Windows and that usually solves it. If non-Linux I offer only suggestions for how one…
-
I'm a freelance IT consultant, so not quite the same, but I charge more for MS support than !linux support. & I don't touch Macs for any $.
-
1 thing I have done w gratis support for non-Free sw is have the friend sit by me. If U waste my time with Ur virus problem U waste Urs too.
-
Generally I work face-to-face with local clients, sorry :(
-
I do so because I think it's fair. Proprietary softwares should not exist.
-
It works. I tell people that many GNU distros are much easier than Windows. Ask "how do you install a program ?", then talk about apt-get..
-
@bernat I absolutely deny tech support to proprietary software. Most have stopped asking me as a result.
-
@bernat I try to help my friends irrespective of the OS they're using. To me, helping a friend in need comes before anything else.
parlementum likes this. -
I think its important to help your friends as well -- but in the long run are you helping them by allowing them to be stuck with MS/Apple?
-
@rajitsingh That's true, but when they don't give a fuck that support is much easier with free software, how are they helpful to me?
-
@rajitsingh Since they don't mind the waste of time that trying to fix crap sw is, I give them instructions to reinstall it by themselves.
-
I always try to help them but usually while teasing about how bad are those OS and how good is gnu/linux
-
I avoid teasing as it makes people become defensive. It's not (IMHO) constructive. I try to stay positive and say "I don't know your OS"
-
All Identi.ca content and data are available under the