The Frustrations of Supporting Users In Remote Offices 129
Esther Schindler writes "You're not alone in your struggle against people who think a shell is something you hold to your ear," writes Carol Pinchefsky. "Other techies are out there supporting users in remote offices, fighting the good fight against computer- and user-related mishaps – or at least tolerating user frustration with a modicum of grace." One example she gives is a tech support person whose systems in Brazil went down — during Carnival: "...We had to wait more than a week for the locals to sober up enough to reconnect the line. In the end, I had to walk a tech (who did not know the system) through the process step by step via an interpreter. Of course, the interpreter was not technical. So it was kind of like explaining to your mom to tell your grandfather (who is hard of hearing) how to do something while she is on the phone and he is across the room from her."
Re:Show Users some love! (Score:2, Interesting)
Sometimes it does. For example, Windows Servers will occasionally just lose the fact that they have file locks on certain files. They will function, but can't be accessed via the UI.
Only way to fix it is to reboot the server. Trust me, I thought it was insane at first, coming from a Linux/Unix background. There had to be something... nope. If it's not in the main UI, it won't show in any other locations, however, it'll function just fine to lock that file. Rebooting saves a hell of a lot of time. Even if I have to rarely argue with some other IT person. Tell you what, do whatever you want, tell me if the file lock is still there, then reboot the server, and then tell me if it's still there.
Just goes to show how for the fact that Windows Servers have gone along the way to not so crappy, they still have things like that. That's far from the only thing!