[NCLUG] local end-user support

[Sean Reifschneider]

On Wed, Nov 07, 2007 at 02:16:55PM -0700, Chad Perrin wrote:
>> single them out for a plug, tummy.com is local and offers this sort of
>> thing I believe, but I'm sure there are others.
>
>I wasn't under the impression tummy.com provided direct end-user support

Thanks for the plug.  :-)

We do definitely offer end-user support, but mostly it is to end users who
have a bunch of machines in a data-center or business office.  I know that
Jamie at IT-Works provides more "home user" type support of Windows and has
recently mentioned helping people with Linux.

I'm sure there are others, though we don't really "move in the same
circles" as them.  We've been around long enough and have a reputation that
is well enough known, that the vast majority of our business comes from
around the country, where most of the other local competition has business
that is largely local.  So I just don't really know who they are.

Which is kind of weird, because we do so much to support and provide
presence at the local users groups, you'd think we'd have more local
business.  There are some reasons for that though, which I won't get into.

Back to the original point of this post...  Anyone else remember when the
Linux community got one of the big magazine's "best of" awards for "best
technical support", several years in a row ISTR.

So, not only is the software free, the support is as well...  Or at least
it can be.

The real reason you don't see these services as much for Linux is, I think,
because of self-selection.  The typical Linux user has to go out of their
way to get the software and install it.  They're the type of person who
wants to do that, not the type of person who wants to buy a PC and not have
to think about the OS again.

No arguments about whether Windows or MacOS actually provide that better
than Linux, I'm just saying...  The kind of person who gets Linux is the
tweaker.

A mechanic doesn't typically sell their services to car tweaker.  Their
customers are the people who don't have the time, skill, or inclination to
think about those things.  Geek Squad doesn't sell their services to the
people who want to fix it themselves, they sell it to the people who don't
want to think about it.  Which is mostly your Mac and Windows users.

The LUGs and HS do a pretty great job of providing support for those people.

No, to the "wanting someone to sue" question.  A large part of the business
customers just want you to have a vested interest in helping them.  This is
why money comes into it.  If I get paid for fixing your computer, enough so
that my house payment depends on it, then as long as I have a house payment
you can expect that I'm going to spend the effort to make sure that you
continue finding value in what I'm doing for you.

Admittedly, I really do like my work, but when a page comes in an hour or
two after I go to bed, I need a bit more motivation to get up than
community reputation points.  :-)

Sean
-- 
 "We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us
 by what we have already done." -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Sean Reifschneider, Member of Technical Staff <jafo at tummy.com>
tummy.com, ltd. - Linux Consulting since 1995: Ask me about High Availability