[Sussex] Argos Catalogue surprise

[Colin Pickard]

On 11/10/06, Nic James Ferrier <nferrier at tapsellferrier.co.uk> wrote:
> If I were a printer supplier I'd be thinking twice about offering
> linux support. The state of linux printing is still so appalling that
> it must make you nervous about what support issues you're going to run
> into.

Serious question - I wonder if Linux users do (or would) make up a
measurable % of support costs for hardware suppliers?

I ask because Linux users IME tend to have well-defined routes for
obtaining software support, and tend to use them first, only
contacting a hardware manufacturer when a hardware problem is pretty
much proven.  Whereas users of the popular commercial operating system
tend not to have any support options better than google or their
technical friends.

In fact, as a expert user of the above mentioned commercial OS, if
e.g. the OS bundled email software refused to print correctly
following the installation of a new printer, I think the printer
manufacturer would come pretty high up the list of troubleshooting
options.  Contacting the publisher of the OS and email software would
be a last resort - well after obtaining a refund on the hardware.

Whereas using my OS of choice (Ubuntu), there are many high quality
support options available, which are clearly promoted on the website.
Contacting the manufacturer would never occur to me - even a
convoluted technical problem would be much more quickly and reliably
diagnosed by the Ubuntu community.

In fact if Linux support would be much better underwritten by the
internet community than Windows, it might even offset the increased
complexity entirely.  Hardware suppliers need just one Linux guru v.s.
legions of script-repeating CSRs.

Too much analysis perhaps.  Back to work.

Colin