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On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 22:54:40 +0000 Jonathan Roberts <jonathan.roberts.uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > I'll also keep in mind about asking about hardware problems on the list > in the future but I think this problem wouldn't have been solved: my > laptop's power connection had started to interrupt so it was pretty > clear, at least I thought it was, that the problem lay with either the > power cable or the connection to the system itself. Add to this that the > laptop was still (just barely) in warranty so the repairs were all free. 1. No need for the repair people to have access to the hard drive. 2. No need to leave the secret key on such a hard drive. 3. There are several members adept in the use of soldering irons in your area. 4. Non-email advice and assistance from any DCGLUG member is only likely to involve your travel costs to a meeting point and a pint of beer. Who needs a warranty? Who do you think paid for the "free" warranty originally? Yes, the same person who paid for the pre-installed OS - the consumer. > In actual fact the repair people replaced the motherboard on the > laptop. Typical OTT reaction. All that was needed was a few millimetres of solder - Robin is probably a good tip for those kinds of things, he fixed exactly this problem on my ageing laptop. No motherboard changes involved. (None possible, the machine is too old!) :-) (no secret keys compromised either - it was a clean install because all Robin needed was to know the machine booted and continued to run.) > If you do think people on the list could have helped please let me know > so I have a better idea of what people are capable of helping with in > future! Almost anything. :-) I'm not kidding, we have electrical engineers, hardware specialists, software developers, circuit board techies, sysadmins. We have members with experience of handheld, laptop, desktop, networked and mainframe computers. Members have a collective experience of at least two if not three *dozen* computer languages from the common to the downright obscure. From wireless to Cray, from arm to zope, bind to W3C. We have members who are at the cutting edge of their field(s), we have members who have retired or who are semi-retired and now have the time and experience to give an objective view on trends and fads. We have members practising their skills day-to-day to earn their living, we have members who have spent their working life teaching and mentoring others in a range of computer skills. We also have members (like myself and Adrian for starters) who have professional lives outside the IT sector. We have financial and business expertise, marketing and presentation skills, enthusiastic new members and seasoned old hands. We also have experience of political activity (lobbying) and several members are in regular contact with organisations like the FFII - Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure - who are deeply involved in the fight against software patents. Take a browse in the Members Register sometime. Don't forget to go outside the DCGLUG sometimes too - even if this group doesn't have someone with specific knowledge, there is almost certainly someone here who knows the right person to ask. Each member of this list is often a member of a dozen, maybe several dozen, other mailing lists within their specialist areas. I'm on numerous Debian lists, Matt on various GNU lists etc. etc. We all meet other specialists in the round whilst trying to fix our own problems. Free software makes lots and lots of friends (and a pint or two of beer always seems to help). People get used to sharing software and are open to sharing their time and skills too. Free Software - Free Society. (RMS). This is one small section of the community - we are here to help and we are linked to virtually every other part of the community through the wonders of free software. Ask nicely and all manner of questions can be answered. Anything that is affected by or supported by free software is fair game here. Anything that affects or supports free software is also fair game. As likely as not, someone on the list either has direct experience of the issue or knows the person or organisation to ask. *THIS* is what Microsoft fail to understand, *THIS* is the strength of free software. It was never about giving stuff away without charge or merely making the source code available for others to read; it was and is always about the community, it has always been and will continue to be about making friends and helping others through sharing. Simple, but incredibly powerful. Only a fool would not participate. -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.data-freedom.org/ http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/
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