Filippo Carone wrote:
* Daniel James (daniel@mondodesigno.com) ha scritto:upwards. Providing high quality end-user support for that product is just a physical impossibility, even for a company the size of Microsoft.imho Microsoft lacks community
I don't think so. The Microsoft Community(tm) differs from the FOSS-community, though.FOSS people will write docs, test betas, send patches, maintain projects and so forth. MS's community has 10% of what I would call "helpers". These 10% of MS users are proficient in hardware, software, and MS Windows. They are the guys the nonproficient users use to call, when they "got some new hardware and it doesn't work". Or whenever their Windows b0xen behaves oddly (...).
Microsoft profits greatly from these "helpers", since they give support for their own flawed software FOR FREE. Remember, Microsoft seeks profit, and these guys work for them for free. I used to be a "helper", and within my family I still am. It's just too hard to tell dad "No, I won't fix MS's shit, go open a support call". But I deny help with MS products to almost everybody else. I offer them to solve their problem by switching to Debian, however :)
Regards, Johannes