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Yes, it was a rant - BUT it was a valid rant :)And some ISPs don't *have* anything above the chaff level. My old employer being a case in point. Customer facing we had Technicians and Senior Technicians (moi) and Team Managers. If you were lucky you might get up to a TM who came from the tech lines *and* knew Linux - we had one, maybe two of those. TMs generally took complaints and did not take tech calls, especially as they were expected to toe the party line and not take calls on unsupported stuff. Although I'd like to think I am above the chaff level generally (g) I'm realistic enough to know I am not when it comes to Linux. So there may be the odd tech at any level that knows about Linux, but just moving up the chain of command doesn't always guarantee wider knowledge of unsupported OSs (for example some of our Senior Techs got there because they had good CS skills not because of good tech abilty, go figure) or a greater degree of autonomy in supporting them.
Front line support is there to stop the chaff from reaching the Techs that often cost the ISP a lot more to employ.
Us geeky people often put products to work in scenarios they're not specifically designed for, and thus cannot/should not expect direct support from the company in question.Having said that I am experienced enough in Windows (for example) to configure Dialup Networking with my eyes shut, but try to ask an ISP front line for the dialup number or DNS servers and you can often get a verbal "deer in headlights" or blanket refusal and told "The terms and conditions require that you use our software to dialup". Considering that one of the diallers we tested used 16Mb of memory and started when Windows did that ate a huge hole in the then common 64Mb RAM. On a Linux front try asking if their authentication is PAP/CHAP etc and see how long it takes the "umm" to finish ;)
It's not the front line guys fault that they don't know the answer :) and getting annoyed with them serves no purpose.We agree on that completely :)
If you're trying to get questions answered to help you do something slightly unusual (and yes Linux is can still be classed as unusual) then you've got to learn to play the game.A classic example. Customer calls me with problems on her dialup (Windows). So I guide her through My Computer -> Dialup Networking etc. Then later in the call I ask her instead to click the Start Button and go to Settings. "I haven't got a Start button, "Bottom left corner of the screen", "No it's not there". Short version - she had SOFT Windows on a MAC! Grrrr.... If she'd said I could have passed her to a Mac expert.
The challenge now is that a lot of newbies (by that I mean non techies) are starting to use Linux.Or people like me. I've been using computers since my first Spectrum 48K in 1982 (anyone dare say they weren't born and I swear I'll drive to Devon and.... ;)). However this is my first foray into Linux after a CheepLinux distro of Redhat 5 toasted an earlier PC when I tried dual booting so it frightened me off for a few years. I still consider myself a newbie even after what must be about 2 years simply because for the sake of functionality I use GUI frontends in preference to command line every chance I get, and I'm still not proficient at source compiling etc.
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