Re: Not a Rant, but a Response (Was: Re: [cobalt-users] Re: Cobalt Wish List If you must respond tothis do it off the board!)

["CobaltList" <cobaltlist@xxxxxxxx>]

No jeff as I said in the last letter to you I don't enjoy this but I felt it
was neccesary to open the eyes of cobalt to their failings.  There is a few
notes below and they are not ment as a flame just conversation......

> CobaltList wrote:
>
> > > As far as documentation on the GUI, I found that when I was first
getting
> > > myself familiar with the Cobalt interface, the booklet provided what
was
> > > necessary to get started.
> > >
> > Yep it's a cute little book.  about the size of a cessna 150 book.
Would
> > you like to go flying with only that?
>
> Very good point.  No, I don't go flying with "only" the Cessna book.
> But when I do go flying, the only book I bring along from the Cessna
> people is the little Cessna book.  The rest of the books I bought from
> other sources, both before and after I spent a lot of hours in school.

Correct but after that you only need a checkout and the weights and balances
chart.  Unless your real good at slow flight...

> > Seriosly though it does cover what
> > the appliance does.  it does not lend any help to the experienced linux
pro
> > that needs to do something on the linux side (Only to find out later the
GUI
> > wiped it all away).
>
> I've looked at Cobalt products since they came out, and in fact I've had
> a lot of what I'll nicely call "heated discussions" at their show-booths
> over the past few years.  It wasn't until the product fit my needs that
> I started using it.  Before that they didn't have my business.
>
> I did my homework.  This list would be a lot easier to respond to if
> everyone else did their homework.
>
> Now, hidden deep in this reply to a reply to a reply, I'm going to write
> something you may have trouble believeing...
>
> Only a very small percentage of Cobalt's customers use this list.  Only
> a very small percentage of Cobalt's customers complain.
>
> Most are quite happy.
>
> How do I know that?  Because I know the kind of business Cobalt does, I
> know the kind of repeat business Cobalt does, I know the kind of users
> they target, I know the kind of customers to whom they sell, and I know
> how many people are vocal on this list.  In short, I've done my
> homework.
>
Oh I belive you.  I'm sure most hosting companys filled the racks up with
them...  I also sure that many of them ended up with great support and mugs
on their desks.... But I do feel that the single box owner should have great
support to...

> There are an awful lot of things I'd like to do on a RaQ that I can't do
> because as you put it "the GUI" will just wipe "it all away".  So I
> don't do them on RaQs.  It's not worth it to me to abandon all the
> quick-and-easy setups the RaQ will do for me to get a bit more
> functionality out of it.
>
> One of the reasons I offer DNS hosting to RaQ users at good rates is
> because I know the RaQ2 has real problems with DNS hosting.  So do the
> Cobalt people; the RaQ3 does it a lot better; in fact the RaQ3 can do
> DNS hosting extremely well, if you've done your homework before you try.
>
> I've even investigated writing the "RaQs for Dummies" book;
> unfortunately, since it won't sell at least 5,000 copies, no one's
> interested in publishing it <frown>.
>
> No, I didn't learn to fly the Skylane from the little book.  And I don't
> expect anyone to learn to fly the RaQ from the little book, either.
> Both take a lot of training.
>

Yep.... But if you called cessna and ask them for a spec on say slipstream
pressure on the elevator at x rpm they would at least try to help you...
Granted I don't know why I would ask that...? :)

> > If I have a problem with the mailing list software, I
> > > don't look to Cobalt, I go to the majordomo support resources.
> > >
> > And well you should but as you know you can ask a question that has
nothing
> > to do with the appliance aspect on this list.
>
> Yes, but you'll get better support from the experts.
>
> > So how much do you think I should of paid for the box
> > builder to do something he should of done on day 1?
>
> Sounds to me like even then you were looking for an appliance.
>

Actually it was the move to a system that would allow cgi's to run.  I had a
similar appliance interface at Iserver already...

> Flying (computers or airplanes, makes no difference) isn't inherently
> dangerous; it's just incredibly unforgiving of mistakes.
>
> > Now I feel safe with
> > linux and it was one of the main reasons I got a cobalt product.  It
looks
> > good, Stacks in a rack Great, has a simmple construction, small power
> > supply, Expandable and I love it.  I just have to except that if I want
to
> > learn what the GUI is doing to files inside I will have to go over all
the
> > code... and I don't have time to do that.
>
> The gui is what makes the RaQ an appliance.  The cobalt-developers list
> is for people who use their RaQs to do things it isn't made to do.
>
> I'm somewhere in the middle; half user, half developer.
>
> > I am and I have been online longer then I can remember.... somewhere
around
> > 300 and 1200 baud modems or around 1988...
>
> Not do say that isn't impressive, but if this is really a pissing
> contest, then let's point out that I've been programming computers since
> 1968, and I've run BBSes since I had to create a jig of solenoids to
> left the handset on an old Bell-500 phone because auto-answer hadn't
> been invented for asynchronous 300-baud modems yet.  The same guy who
> wrote the code for Compuserve wrote it for my TRS-80 Model I with
> expansion interface.  How many IBM boards did you wire in your
> lifetime?  I can't even count how many <smile>.
>

In 1968 I was 7 and undressing my first girl... Bet I had more fun though!
:)

> > I Checked them out from top to bottom before I made the purchace.  I
felt
> > the box was sound, I Like the Mips, and alot of other things... I was
very
> > dissapointed to find poor support afterward.
>
> Then you didn't check out support; you only made assumptions.

Oh so True!  I am only human and some things are hard to judge untill you
have something to talk about...

>
> > True but it is a very easy box that even the secratary should be able to
> > use.  Right down to installing software...  Maybe this will help you...
They
> > are loosing mony by not charging for things like PGP, PHP, MySql etc by
not
> > making packages and charging for them like they did with SSL and ASP.
Not
> > only is that bad support but bad Biz.  Bottom Line they just don't have
the
> > support team to do that.  They just sell them and leave you almost hung.
>
> As I've said before, we complainers are definitely in the minority.
> Companies would NOT buy 50 RaQ3s if they were losing money on RaQ2s.  As
> I've said before, we've run out of room in colocation until almost the
> first of 2001, and we don't have that many RaQ3s left to rent, either.
> And we're not the lowest priced guys in town; we make no bones about it;
> we charge at least $100 more than everyone else.  But we offer support.
> You pays your money and your takes your choice.
>
> > This letter took to much of my time up....
>
> Then maybe you won't write another.
>
> Somehow, I think you like writing these posts.
>
Nope... I'd rather be Flying!

I have done all I can and I can now only hope that cobalt mends their
ways...

Zeffie