Windows Rant

[Douglas Pollard]

On 07/12/2010 06:23 PM, chris wrote:
> On Sun, 2010-07-11 at 22:44 +0100, Angus MacGyver wrote:
>    
>> On Sun, 2010-07-11 at 16:34 +0200, Amedee Van Gasse wrote:
>>      
>>> On 11-07-10 05:15, NoOp wrote:
>>>        
>>>> <rant>
>>>> I stopped supporting Windows for my clients six months ago but still
>>>> maintain Win for my relatives et al. Performing what would be simple
>>>> changes in Ubuntu on WinXP brought home why I stopped supporting paying
>>>> clients.
>>>>          
>>> Why do you support your relatives for free?
>>>
>>> My niece is with the police but she doesn't let me park on the wrong
>>> places for free. I have a nephew who is an engineer at a petrochemical
>>> company but he doesn't give me fuel for free. My sister is a nurse at a
>>> psychiatric clinic but she doesn't get me free drugs. So I'll ask again,
>>> why would my IT services be free?
>>>
>>> If you don't ask money for your services, however low it may be, then at
>>> least ask for a service in return. For example if they are a plummer or
>>> a construction worker. Because if you don't ask anything in return, they
>>> will value your services as worthless. Which makes you worthless.
>>> Something that you don't want, I guess.
>>> On the other hand if you ask something in return then your relatives
>>> will respect you.
>>>
>>> Anyway if you help your relatives for free then you are also poisoning
>>> the market for other IT services who would otherwise have made a small
>>> profit if you weren't available.
>>>
>>>        
>> Good grief - have you no heart ?
>> Are people *REALLY* that greedy these days ?
>> Have we lost compassion for one another, the joy of gifting and most
>> importantly love ?
>> I'm appalled and disappointed.
>>
>>
>> Nothing in your IT services (or plumbing services) that someone provides
>> makes it illegal, against their business contracts or otherwise
>> un-ethical to give free services to your family...
>>
>> Being with the police and turning a blind eye to illegal activity is in
>> itself illegal (although it does happen) - same goes with a nurse with
>> dispensing drugs without due process, an engineer in an oil company
>> doesn't have the authority to give his *COMPANY'S* fuel to you, and
>> therefore, these are a very poor analogy to IT services.
>>
>> Plumbing is a more suitable analogy, provided the plumber isn't doing it
>> on someone else's time (i.e. fixing for free a family problem instead of
>> what his company expects him to do - doing it his own free time,
>> depending on his company's contract, is a different matter)
>>
>>
>> I cannot imagine providing services to family for a fee, be it plumbing,
>> other DIY, or IT.
>> (actual parts are another matter, case by case basis - I've bought
>> things for my sister-in-law and niece, they simply cannot afford them, I
>> however can, so it's my pleasure to give them, but I didn't buy my
>> mother-in-law's Apple as she wanted one)
>> I'd rather do it *right*, for free than risk some fly-by-night rip them
>> off.
>>
>>
>>
>>      
> well put.
> the kiwi
>
>
>    
If it's wrong to give free survices to anyone, God help any who write 
the  software I am using.  God help me for giving away pictures I paint 
and free stories I tell, God help those that make video's and put them 
on U'tube , We are truly a sorry bunch of sinners.   I expect to see all 
those giving free medical help in Hatti in hell for their 
transgressions.   Doug