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<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2><BR>Hi again have to comment again:<BR><BR>What
ever service agreement you come up with just add some thing like
this:<BR><BR>"If a clients system has been changed from linux to a non
linux system, then<BR>any work related to fixing a non HW fault is at the users
expence." (a small<BR>fee)<BR><BR>Why I think this is a good
Idea:<BR><BR>1. Might Raise a little money<BR>2. benifit the techos by expanding
their knowledge base & skills. We want to<BR>help people get work, well as
sad as it may be the fact is that MS is what<BR>people need to know to get a
job. (Wrk for the dole)<BR>3. Introducing a fee for WIN Supp. may hlp to
convince some users Not to<BR>change their system from linux<BR><BR>some
bad points:<BR><BR>1.More users may switch to windows knowing they have
access to cheep<BR>suport. Techos will get bogged down with WIN PCs<BR>2.there
is a grey area when you say only HW Supp. is free. WIN PCs always<BR>need some
drivers to be loaded & config manually (NON-PNP SEMI PNP devices)<BR>The
question here is how do class drivers as HW or SW? Another factor is<BR>bugs in
the OS & driver sets related to HW<BR><BR>when This service agreement is
changed which users will it apply too??? If<BR>CB does decide to supp
WIN,incuding all users past & present that could get<BR>yukky. But having
different service agreements maybe hard to cntrl. IE when<BR>a user rings up for
help how can the voluntere determine the applicable<BR>service agreement so as
to correctly advise the user.<BR><BR>Katarina<BR><BR><BR><BR>-----Original
Message-----<BR>From: Kylie Davies <<A
href="mailto:mailkylie@optushome.com.au">mailkylie@optushome.com.au</A>><BR>To:
<A
href="mailto:computerbank@lists.linux.org.au">computerbank@lists.linux.org.au</A>
<<A
href="mailto:computerbank@lists.linux.org.au">computerbank@lists.linux.org.au</A>>;<BR><A
href="mailto:cai-committee@lists.linux.org.au">cai-committee@lists.linux.org.au</A>
<<A
href="mailto:cai-committee@lists.linux.org.au">cai-committee@lists.linux.org.au</A>><BR>Date:
Monday, 18 March 2002 10:11<BR>Subject: [Computerbank] Our service philosophy
and linux<BR><BR><BR>> Hey all,<BR>><BR>>Like I said - a doozy...
some of the more important (corcerning all)<BR>>discussions for the
Conference are being directed to the main list to<BR>>get a general feeling
about underlying principles of Computerbank's
and<BR>>affiliates.<BR>><BR>>We all know that Computerbank's use linux
(and the Conference will firm<BR>>up on what exactly that means to use linux
- have your say now)..for<BR>>starters from Romana CAI-SA we had this
comment:<BR>><BR>>>Along those lines, I would like the purpose of
Computerbank clarified in<BR>>>terms of our position on using nothing but
Open Source (and its GPL type<BR>>>variations folks!) software - I am
aware of Windows debates that flare<BR>>>occasionally in all branches, I
would like discussed and fully clarified<BR>once<BR>>>and for
all.<BR>>><BR>>Here here! Does anyone else want to add
anything?<BR>><BR>>But what about our philosophy on Windows - that is when
a client changes<BR>>their linux system to a windows one. ?<BR>><BR>>In
Vic, we have experienced this a few times with a couple of people<BR>>coming
back to us expecting us to do Windows configuration. We have had<BR>>to tell
these people that we only support linux and that we can not help<BR>>them
with Windows problems. This is simple Computerbank Policy
reads<BR>>"Computerbanks and their affiliates will provide ongoing
support and<BR>>assitance to those clients that have linux
systems."<BR>><BR>>This gets tricky in the area of hardware
malfunction / monitor death.<BR>><BR>>We really need to firm up on some
kind of warranty period (standard 30<BR>>days for second-hand goods or? ) for
return to Computerbank for<BR>>replacement or repair - regardless of
operating system. I am not sure if<BR>>we would think it necessary to ask
people to produce licenses for PTY<BR>>software before we could work on the
system or replace whatever was broken.<BR>><BR>>I guess the Computerbank
policy for this might read:<BR>><BR>>"Computerbanks and their
affiliates will repair or replace faulty items<BR>>on any Computerbank
client's computer within the first initial 30 days<BR>>of the client owning
the computer. Computerbank's will do this<BR>>irrespective of the operating
system on the computer. Computerbank<BR>>reserves the right to ask clients to
produce relevant documentation if<BR>>required."<BR>><BR>>Okay -
now after 30 days - what do we do if there is hardware failure /<BR>>monitor
fault?<BR>><BR>>If a) person has linux?<BR>>or b) person has
windows?<BR>><BR>>Do we have the same policy for both - in respect to
hardware failure -<BR>>or do we "favor" the linux users? If we do
this - why do we do this?<BR>><BR>>I think we need to be acting
consistently - and maybe we should say no!<BR>>to the linux folk who have
hardware failure after 30 days? If we say yes<BR>>to the linux guys and no to
the windows guys on matters hardware - is<BR>>this equal? Again - can we ask
people to produce documentation for PTY<BR>>software licenses on systems they
want us to look at and fix?<BR>><BR>>What do we all think about that
one?<BR>><BR>>Configuration and support issues are easily solved by the
first policy -<BR>>which read "Computerbanks and their affiliates will
provide ongoing<BR>>support and assitance to those clients that have linux
systems."<BR>><BR>>How was that for a trick question? Let's get the
discussion and comments<BR>>happening.
:)<BR>><BR>>Cheers,<BR>><BR>>Kylie<BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>>_______________________________________________<BR>>computerbank
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