On 07/12/06, James K. Lowden <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Paul Mason wrote:
>
> > It's not hard ... to move your support -- is there any? -- to a public
> > mailing list.
>
> I'm not sure what "your support" means in this context. What is it
> exactly that you think should be on a public mailing list?
Hi Paul,
Well, that was a little vague. ;-)
No problem, thanks for taking the time to reply.
My thinking is that if Ingres wants to create a community -- something it
needs for its business model to work -- it it might be a good idea to make
its internal resources a bit more accessible.
I agree and it is being worked on.
I guess I better mention at this point that I work for Ingres in Tech
Support. I've worked there since 2000 when we were part of CA. Before
that I was an Ingres/Oracle/SQL Server DBA in a utility company. I
don't post using my Ingres email account so that if I'm spouting my
opinion it's clear it's just that. *My* opinion only.
Especially on stuff like this which is non-technical.
For user support, I imagine a list that is readable by the public but
accepts queries only from subscribers. It could have some guarantees
about response time and resolution that free lists don't have. Searching
the list archives is a handy way to solve problems, and the quality of the
archive could tell potential subscribers what they can expect (good or
bad). I don't know offhand of any for-profit open-source firm that does
this.
OK, I see what you're saying.
To be honest, whilst it might be a step up for non-subscribers it
would be a step down for our existing customers, and it wouldn't give
me all the tools to manage my issues that I have now. A mailing list
as you describe would need something else, something to assign, track
and manage issues, built on top of it. I guess what I'm trying to say
is that mailing lists are great for communication but what's really
needed is something that allows you to manage workflow.
Also, there's an issue of privacy/confidentiality. Many customers
don't want the kinds of details that can go in a support issue made
public.
So I think the underlying principle - of wanting to make the technical
information contained in issues available as a resource - is a good
one. I think that downgrading our existing customers experience of
support in order and compromising confidentiality to do that is not
what we want.
From what I've seen of it, the new system that's being worked on to
replace the existing open source forums etc - would be able to do what
you want. I can't really say more than that but it is coming and not
that far off.
--
Paul Mason
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