-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Alan Davis wrote: > >>El vie, 16-03-2007 a las 16:14 +0100, Marc Cuypers escribi?: >>> Hi, >>> Has someone bacula working with a HP MSL2024 autochanger? >>Indeed. > > /rant mode on/
> Ladies and Gentleman, As I feel that this could be partially directed at me, I feel inclined to weigh in a certain amount. More posted below. > The mailing list is the primary customer support mechanism and one of > the only expressions of "community" for the excellent "community supported" > product that is Bacula. > > I have seen too many responses on this list that, while they may answer the > question /exactly/ (although too many aren't even that helpful) they > provide absolutely no useful or meaningful information. The problem with too many initial posts on this list lately is they too provide absolutely no useful or meaningful information. There are far too many posts to the list asking for far too much information. "I am new to Bacula !! How I can set up my tape drive?" I understand we are a support community, but the expectation is that the user will at least pick up the manual and say where they have gone right or wrong... they will provide their version number and platform, and often that they'll provide config files that they've tried that don't work. The expectation is there that if someone is going to take the time to help them, they are to take the time to try to help themselves. I personally get enough of the former at work, where I am paid to answer those kinds of questions. > Please keep in mind as you respond that users come to this list looking for > help with a complex system that they probably don't understand fully. While > sometimes the assurance that something is indeed possible is enough to spur > a user to more detailed tests and a re-reading of the manual quite often > additional information from more experienced users is most helpful. Unfortunately, often times the initial poster has not even read the manual at all. When someone comes in asking how to do something that even has a chapter heading, how much sympathy is one supposed to have? In cases like this, I didn't even really see anything negative about the response. Does this autochanger work with Bacula? Yes. In fact I've asked that question myself, just to make sure I'm not barking up the wrong tree. That doesn't mean I want someone to provide me with a definition of how to do so. Also, since I see this particular autochanger in the subject line -- if the original user bothered to search the mailing list archives, they would have answered their own question with any number of the ten and change posts since May of 2006. > It's not difficult, as experienced users, to anticipate the type of > information that might be required to guide someone past the difficulties > expressed in their posting to the list. In this case, it might be, considering the user didn't post whether or not he even owned one yet -- perhaps he's just considering purchasing one? > Vendors of proprietary products are quite often judged by users and in the > trade press on both quality of their products and quality of their support. > The same is true for FOSS products except that /we/ are the support > staff and the competition is just a download away. If a Bacula user can't get > their problem resolved quickly and easily with help from the mailing list > they'll quickly > move on to another solution. They don't have the options that are available > to users of proprietary products - find another support vendor or use > financial incentives with the vendor to improve response from them. And if, with an excellent manual available, and fairly expert help available on the mailing list when people ask a proper question, I would say anyone who can't get the help they need to get their problem resolved fairly quickly (by resolved, I mean maybe not having their issue fixed, but at the very least finding out the reason for their trouble) is probably going to need commercial support anyway (which is not generally any better than open source support, except for the fact that the customer service people are paid to be nice to you). In this particular case, I don't even see what set off the rant. > /rant mode off/ - -- ---- _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ |Y#| | | |\/| | \ |\ | | |Ryan Novosielski - Systems Programmer III |$&| |__| | | |__/ | \| _| |[EMAIL PROTECTED] - 973/972.0922 (2-0922) \__/ Univ. of Med. and Dent.|IST/AST - NJMS Medical Science Bldg - C630 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.5 (MingW32) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFF+uZhmb+gadEcsb4RAm3OAJ9oKkdOa2P5ea8Jwhael46rzqXHZQCgtSiI 2bfyRYadPT87K9tCl0giPvg= =PcH9 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. 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