Re: [Sheflug] Re: BlueYonder

["Chris J/#6" <nospam [at] nccnet.co.uk>]

> >You miss the point - there are so many different ways a box could be
> >configured and setup depending on version of kernel, version of networking
> >utils, and state of firewall that asking an engineer to set up and test a
> >connection gets rather complicated and tends to mean you need to know what
> >you're doing.
> 
> Why is it unreasonable to expect an engineer to know what he's doing?
> 

He does know what he's doing. 

Why?

Because he's been trained on Windows only. I refer to previous post about 
multiple-OS support - it's impossible to support everything, and again Linux 
has so many different ways of being setup. The best you could hope for is 
support of a particular distribution - which would probably be Redhat. Okay, 
for many Linux dists, its can be done through stuff like linuxconf, but I 
tend to switch as much as that off as possible so I can do what I want 
without that getting in the way.

I expect the engineer to know what he's doing as far as he's been trained and 
not more. If he knows more - that's a good thing. The impression that BY's 
website gives is that the engineer has only been trained for Windows, 
therefore, give him a windows box, he'll know what he's doing.

> Exactly! You need windows. So, I put windows on, he configures it. I take
> note of any special network settings (gateway, DNS, etc), delete windows,
> set up linux box. What has the engineer done? He's spent however long
> setting up a box which didn't survive long enough for him to get back to the
> office!

He's been able to *TEST* that your cable, the cable modem, and your account 
are all operational. If he went without plugging everything together, and it 
didn't work, where would you be? With this setup, the cable can be tested 
there-and-then and any problems resolved there-and-then. If it doesn't work 
under Linux and he hadn't tested windows...would you know where the problem 
lay? Ie, network, CM, cable, or elsewhere...? You could probably find out, 
but if its a problem with the cable itself, you may have to wait a couple of 
days. Ditto a problem with the CM.

> Surely the hardest part is getting the NIC working? If I can get that
> working OK before he comes, it's just a case of configuring gateway, DNS,
> etc, and we're away. He can even see it running! And, if it fails,
> (unlikely) he can set it up on the temporary Win drive, and I'll try again
> later.
> 

Well, you can ask him that when he arrives...see if he minds. He might not. 
Ask the engineer - they're more flexible than call center staff. They won't 
know more than the basic stuff and will be given a simple script or 
checklist. Anything that deviates from that will be a case of "we can't do 
that".

> Note: They don't provide the NIC. Thats up to you, so basically, over half
> his job is installing the hardware. After that, it's just configuring a
> network!

This I know...still haven't sorted out my own CM yet...which is why I've been 
lurking in UTB to find out if its any good before I fork out for a 12 month 
contract.
 
> Anyway, point is, it's a lot of wasted effort on both mine and the engineers
> part, if I have to set up an OS which will be removed, and if he has to
> configure it. What's the point?
> 

See above: it can be tested.

Chris...


-- 
Chris Johnson            \  "If not for me then, do it for yourself. If not
sixie@nccnet.co.uk        \  for then do it for the world." -- Stevie Nicks
www.nccnet.co.uk/~sixie/   ~---------------------------------------+
Redclaw chat - http://redclaw.org.uk - telnet redclaw.org.uk 2000   \______


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