Perception of Linux Among IT Undergrads 893
iconian writes: "The Linux Journal has a story on IT students and their perception of Linux. One of the funnier myths perceived to be true is that 'Microsoft's technical support is the best in the industry and is superior to that offered by the Linux community.' It just goes to show how little real world experience students have. It's a bit disturbing considering they will be the next generation of technology workers."
Microsoft support (Score:5, Informative)
One of the factors is if you're calling them at random, or you have a support aggrement. You ALWAYS pay for support from microsoft. It doesn't come with any product.
THe last place I worked at, we had a microsoft select agreement. Boy is that a deal. (Hahah). We got 150 incedents for $50,000. Sounds crazy, but, it was worth it... To bad we could never use 150 incedents, even if we tried. (150 people in the company, 5 IT people).
The cool thing about the select agreement, is you get a TAM (Technical account manager) that can esclate your call. Plus, he has like 10 customers, so he pays close attention to every case. Its kinda cool when he checks in to see if you were happy with a case.
With a select agreement, you get access to subscriber downloads, which rocks. You can download anything microsoft ever released (Well almost). Wanted to try BOB? go for it. MSDOS 5 in chinese, its there.
Some of thier best support people are in thier exchange support group. The reason being, exchange is a POS that needs alot of attention, and fixing database curruption is a bitch.
-Tripp
That's Because... (Score:3, Informative)
Of 150 freshmen I had regular contact with in college, there were 3 (including myself) who were really interested in computers. I bet a similar ratio groks Linux (Maybe it'll say in the story once their poor server recovers from its harsh slashdotting.)
Re:MS tech support? Ha ha ha... (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Have you ever used Microsoft Technical Support? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Not surprised (Score:2, Informative)
I don't know about everyone else but when I hear "IT" that says to me: ISM not CS. ISMs do not have to take "OS theory" or "algorithms" in most places - and if they do - and they get a good grade in them, then they are probably not the ones running an MS OS.
Derek
Re:Have you ever used Microsoft Technical Support? (Score:2, Informative)
The tickets don't get closed unless you confirm the problem is resolved
Ever.
So you're either full of it or you gave up.
Re:MS VS. Linux techsupport (Score:3, Informative)
As a contractor, I was a member of the Kernel, API and Test (KAPT) group on the NT Development Team as a Software Tester, as well as a Software Test Engineer for MSN 1.0, and I *know* from first-hand experience that the above poster has BOVINE FECES for his grey matter!
Software bugs are assigned severity levels, depending on how much of a problem the bug is, whether it causes crashes or fatal errors, or if the bug is just a UI-style bug. The only bugs that software companies are concerned about are "showstoppers" or "Severity-1" level bugs - once those bugs are fixed or handled, they move down the list to the next level, and so on. As soon as the product is "Feature-Set Complete", and there are no "showstopper" bugs, and the bugs down to the "UI-Style" bugs are handled, the software is "Code Complete" and ready to be RTM'ed as "Golden"
There has never been a totally bug-free program ever written in the entire history of Data Processing; however, that depends on what you would call a "bug".
I'll venture to say that the above poster spends way too much time in alt.conspiracy.
Re:Have you ever used Microsoft Technical Support? (Score:4, Informative)
On the other hand, I only needed the help I recieved due to technet not having the help I needed (disaster recovery document is missing one vital step). Seems like a setup to force you to call and pay for tech support.
Microsoft Support is mostly outsourced! (Score:4, Informative)
Stream has a VERY bad reputation. Unless the customer demands it, they hire and train just about anyone. They are kept to very strict call times, which insures the customer has to call back if the solution did not work.
Most of the times I have dealt with Microsoft support, the standard "solution" is to reinstall the OS. (So much for all your system settings and preferences! If you use Kai texture explorer, you lose all your saved textures as well.)
I ask anyone who thinks that Microsoft has good support just how many times they had to call them and why.
Not every student is a morron (Score:2, Informative)
If students aren't interested in computer science and all aspects concerning it, it is probably the fault of the college where they are studying. It's very important to get a lot of hands-on experience that can be translated to the "real world" and I must admit that at a lot of places, this is left out in the courses.
But saying that anybody who can code and is interested in computers can replace computer scientists is wrong: there are a lot of things that a decent education provides like formal languages, computability theory, algorithmical complexity, good design, clean coding, etc
Re:MS VS. Linux techsupport (Score:3, Informative)
JOhn
Words from a CS Undergrad... (Score:5, Informative)
My perception is somewhat similar. But, from what I've seen of the students with these amoral views, trying to look 1337, is that they generally mature, or they crack and become business majors or MCSE's.
Closed file formats are a big problem, and I don't think some profs realize what they are doing. Generally there are way's around this type of crap if you want to put forth the effort: My CS prof asked that all projects be turned in as Window's EXE's. My solution was to install linux mingw32 and setup wine, but I could have just as easily borrowed someone's W2K setup disks, and got a copy VC++. Need a .doc file? Use staroffice. Unsure of the results? Check it in the lab.
deja.com (Score:2, Informative)
Re:MS VS. Linux techsupport (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Linux Support. (Score:3, Informative)
dpkg-name (1) - rename Debian packages to full package names
mmove (1) - move or rename an MSDOS file or subdirectory TQ
mren (1) - rename an existing MSDOS file TQ
mv (1) - move (rename) files
rename (1) - renames multiple files
rename (2) - change the name or location of a file
XStoreName (3x) - set or read a window's WM_NAME property
XStoreNamedColor (3x) - set colors
"man -k rename" would also have worked.
See, they just don't know how to use the man pages. They should have "man man"ed.
You have all missed the point! (Score:5, Informative)
This is what you should be looking for in terms of support:
Purchase from a Linux vendor:
Check to see what your purchase entitles you to, for most distro's this is a standard 30-60 day installation support.
If you want more then most of the larger distrobutions will offer professional services as an extra offering, in fact this is common with large software products, check with the distro to see how much it is and what they can offer.
Hardware vendor:
The big one here is IBM. Never purchased from them, but it might be similer to what the distro's offer.
In fact here is what they offer:
Depending on customer need, IBM offers 24-hour a day, 7-days a week Internet and voice support, ranging from answering usage questions to identifying problems. IBM Global Services also provides consulting, planning and implementation services for Linux. IBM consultants can help you evaluate whether Linux is appropriate for your particular environment.
Now, customers can turn to IBM Global Services as a one-stop shop for Linux support. For information on properly configuring and implementing, as well as enhancing, your Linux solutions or additional service and support offerings please call 1-888-426-4343.
IBM operational support services
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IBM is here to support Linux at every step of the way on its remarkable journey. We've already dedicated $1 billion to Linux development and will invest more than $300 million in Linux services over the next three years.
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7x24 Enterprise Level remote support for your Linux OS environment.
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Fast and accurate problem resolution.
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A way to supplement your internal staff with IBM's skilled services specialists.
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Defect support for supported distributions of the Linux OS and Linux applications.
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Electronic support and problem submission that saves you time and allows you to track your open support issues.
IBM's premier remote technical support for Linux
An IBM Business Partner, Worklab develops its solutions with IBM e-business products such as IBM DB2 Universal Database for Linux, Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino.
We help answer your how-to questions, help you define problems and determine their source. Additionally, by leveraging our partnerships with the key distributors of the Linux operating system, IBM is able to provide defect-level support for the Linux OS. Remote assistance is available through toll-free telephone access and electronic access. For all eligible distributions of the Linux operating system, we help you with:
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IBM is here to support Linux at every step of the way on its remarkable journey. We've already dedicated $1 billion to Linux development and will invest more than $300 million in Linux services over the next three years.
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usage and installation questions
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interpretation of product documentation
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product compatibility and interoperability questions
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a diagnostic information review to help isolate the cause of a problem
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configuration samples
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IBM and multivendor database searches
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planning information for software fixes
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defect support
Electronic Support allows you to submit and get answers to your problems electronically.
Not so bad, despite the majority of whining by users who want proffesional support for things that they freely downladed Linuxcare is still going, and yes you have to buy this support. Actually IBM use Linuxcare too.
If you want free support for a free download, go to usenet or use mailing lists.
Matt
WTF??? (Score:2, Informative)
It seems to me that the responses to this article can be summed up like this:
When I have a problem with a machine at work and they(work) pay the $200 to M$, they solve the problem, but when I try to get help for my Linux distro from IRC i get told to RTFM
Come on!! Get a grip on reality..If you are using Linux in a Commercial/Professional envioronment you would be a member of something like Redhat's RHN or similar..
If you need to you can get Tech Support from the Professional Distro Companies at a cost... Just like M$..
Just coz you're dicking around with Linux at home and you don't wanna pay anything, doesnt mean that good tech support for it does not exist....
If you go to IRC... you get an IRC solution... for M$ & Linux.... And you deserve the result
Re:If it's MS, it must be good (Score:2, Informative)
C# is, sooner or later, probably going to replace VB as the language of choice for the majority of programmers in the world (Yes, VB has the largest share of programmers).
Makes at least *some* sense to me.
Re:If it's MS, it must be good (Score:2, Informative)