Re: [cobalt-developers] nice knowing you all!

[Mike King <mikkel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tim,

I must say your comments are welcome. I am not taking sides here, but I am
definitely encouraged to hear something from Cobalt that is in a positive line.

If you have any influence in your organization Tim, I would encourage other
people to contribute to the discussion groups. Most of the sentiments are
negative, and there rarely seems to be any response from Cobalt, so we are
left wondering what is going on. If people make comment on this forum it is
because they care, and are not necessarily just Cobalt bashing. If Cobalt
can address issues, or provide pointers into the knowledge base, it would
strengthen the forum no end, and probably improve the satisfaction level
immensely.

That's my 2c for the day !

Mike

At 21:16 25/09/2000 -0700, you wrote:
>Dennis, despite your overwhelmingly troll-like attitude, and propensity
>to sling mud, I'd like to publicly address some of your comments (just
>to dispel any FUD).
>
>Dennis wrote:
>> You can build a 1U box with 2 ethernets with 650Mhz PIII processor and a
>> 15GB disk for about $800.  A RaQ3i is ~$2300. reseller price. Webmin is at
>> least as good as the cobalt gui (and a lot faster), and its, yes, free.
>
>your 1U box will draw far more power, be louder, generate more heat,
>likely require a keyboard, mouse, video card and monitor.  It will also
>require you spending time installing Linux, setting it up to your
>liking, upgrading and installing software - all just to get to Webmin. 
>A Cobalt comes out of the box and onto the network.
> 
>Add to that this: webmin is a general purpose tool.  What webmin
>generally gives you is a textbox for every config parameter.  Whoopee. 
>Cobalt has invested significant effort into simplifying common issues.
>
>> So, my point is, that anyone buying this as just a box to run linux
>> probably isnt very technically capable, or just plain has his head in the
>> sand.
>
>I'd probably agree.  It is not "just a linux box".
> 
>> I dont mean the hardware, but try plugging an eepro100 into the slot in a
>> raq3, its fun...or a lot of other cards. I was referring to the overall
>
>Fixed, some time ago, and you know it.  Dennis you yourself helped me to
>track some of the bugs that existed on RaQ3 when I started working at
>Cobalt this past year.  Bringing up old bugs is really just building a
>straw man.
>
>> port;  they still haven't fixed the "eepro checksum errors"...and the thing
>
>Hardly an error - it is a EEPROM format which is supported by most
>devices (as well as the Intel).  The driver merely issues a warning.
>
>> has a propensity to lose files....I've never had so many complete
>> directories trashed as with this box on crashes, and the clock seems to
>> randomize on reboot, although I've heard theres a hokey fix for that.
>
>As for disk, well, I'd have to see why you are crashing so much (my RaQ3
>has well over 120 days uptime).  As for clock, I'd hardly say setting
>the RTC to proper values is "hokey"... maybe my definition of "hokey" is
>different from yours?  It sounds to me like the word is "correct".
> 
>> which was exactly my original point, that the fact that it runs LINUX is
>> not important to most of the people who buy it . They (cobalt) would be
>> better off with a black box, because then they wouldnt have to deal with
>> the constant whining of the linux community to fix the multitude of bugs
>> that have little to do with the applications that make the boxes attractive.
>
>What has, and will continue to make us successful is not just "selling
>boxes".  we sell both a solution and a platform on which to base
>solutions.  The developer community is a very important piece of our
>puzzle, and I don't see that shrinking at all with this whole Sun deal.
>
>As for black-box - several "appliance" vendors entered the market before
>or close to the same time Cobalt did.  Where are those black-box vendors
>now?
>
>Lastly, I wanted to say that just because of the Sun deal, I'd hardly
>count on Cobalt going away.  We now have more muscle at our disposal
>than we ever did before, which means better prices, better products, and
>better service.  We have had many assurances that things will remain up
>to us, so long as we continue to be successful (losing money doesn't
>mean not being successful - building hardware isn't cheap, folks!).
>
>Dennis, you seem to have so much pent up anger towards Cobalt.  You opt
>to sling insults at us whenever possible, and choose to accuse first,
>and ask questions later.  I don't know what part of the experience you
>are so severely displeased with, but I'd love to have an opportunity to
>rectify the situation.  Please tell me how I can help.
>
>Back to the code,
>Tim
>
>-- 
>Tim Hockin
>Software Engineer / OS Engineer
>Cobalt Networks
>thockin@xxxxxxxxxx
>
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