Re: Greaat disappointment
Hello,
On 10/01/2011 06:13 AM, Ben Hutchings wrote:
> On Sat, 2011-10-01 at 01:55 +0200, Qactuar Rogue wrote:
>> Hi.
>>
>> I was planning on installing Debian on a new laptop that had Windows 7
>> pre-installed.
>> I was researching the methods of installation for two weeks
>> (partitioning etc).
>> Then right before beginning the disk wipe and later the installation
>> I had problems deciding on my own for what kind of partition table to
>> create
>> and wanted to have feedback from somebody who has a comprehensive
>> understanding on the subject.
>> I went on IRC. Firstly I tried #Debian on irc.debian.org then I tried
>> #Debian at chat.freenode.com
>>
>> I would like to express my greatest disappointment regarding the
>> `helpfulness` of the people on the channel.
>> On irc.debian.org everyone was a complete dumbass. On both channels I
>> was told off for asking my questions by PMing someone
>> who replied to my posting on the channel.
>
> That seems quite reasonable. You have no right to expect free
> one-to-one support.
I have never been to an IRC activity @debian.org. With all those
larger companies now having an online chat window opening when one
idles for more than a second on their page, I can well imagine
expectations to somehow change.
>> My nick was Ti-chan. You can research if you please.
>> I did nothing, just kindly asked for help regarding partitioning.
> [...]
>
> And then, apparently, you started insulting people.
I can well imagine how one has made the investment to install some
IRC client to get access to that presumed source of help. One is
happy to get it started and to understand what this join to a channel
might mean - and then nobody wants to react to a "my machine does not
boot" kind of question. Let us assume too little time to have passed
between that experience and the mail to this list.
irc.debian.org was an inappropriate address for that kind of help
seeked. A local Linux group for volunteers' help may work out better.
However, at least over here, the Linux user groups are somewhat on
the decline, much like nobody ever hears about Windows user groups.
Linux is just everywhere. When we send people off to look for help
locally, this effectively really means to either have a (friend's)*
friend who has done it before or to just ask any IT professional.
For improving synchronous help, I have no immediate idea. Anything
that comes to mind would cost money. And the Debian main pages would
need to point to that. This is then more Ubuntu than Debian, I think.
>> I also considered investing into the Debian project by donating
>> millions of dollars.
> [...]
>
> If you really have so much money to spare, consider paid support from a
> consultant as listed under <http://www.debian.org/consultants/>.
A million donated to Debian would have zero effect on irc.debian.org,
I presume. What would we do with a million for Debian? My personal
hunch is that Debian would best be served by having the donor starting a
viable business that uses our distro and where there is a gap in
functionality have that closed by a new Open Source development / patches
to existing software. :o) This sounds like an interesting separate
thread.
All the best,
Steffen
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