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Grex > Coop10 > #47: Effects of Routing Dialins Through the Telnet Queue | |
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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 77 responses total. |
scott
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response 25 of 77:
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Oct 31 11:54 UTC 1997 |
Depends on *when* you try to get in, though. I really want to get the
ALM card back so we can have dedicated dialins.
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davel
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response 26 of 77:
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Oct 31 12:42 UTC 1997 |
Re #23: (was that a question - say, "what is a terminal server?" or something?
Or should we just ignore it?)
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void
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response 27 of 77:
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Oct 31 19:11 UTC 1997 |
when my real computer's working, i use procomm plus to dial in. it's
not, as far as i can tell, something i can stick in a window while i
wait to get through the telnet queue. when my computer's not working
(currently), i use an ancient hp2626 dumb term -- the one which used
to be m-net's console...again, something i can't use to go do something
else while i wait to get through the telnet queue. most of the time,
i find it's not really *that* big a problem. the time i spend waiting
in the queue, if i encounter a wait, is usually used for either talking
to wendy-who-is-not-online or reading a real paper book. otoh, is is
rather nice to be able to dial in and log in right away. i guess it's
really about whether i feel like delaying my gratification. :)
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scg
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response 28 of 77:
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Oct 31 19:20 UTC 1997 |
It would be nice to get in right away on a telnet connection too, but it
sometimes doesn't happen. I'm not arguing that the queue is the best of all
possible worlds, but rather that it's something all but of a few of our users
deal with whether not the dial-ups are in it. Many of our users who telnet
in are also using computers that don't let them put their telnet session in
the background and do something else.
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dpc
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response 29 of 77:
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Oct 31 20:50 UTC 1997 |
I'm with aruba. If someone has been used to getting in on a dialin
with no waiting, to suddenly have to wait in a telnet queue,
and *then* to be told "well live with it"--I expect a lot of our
supporting members will say "Fine. I'll live with it by not
trying to log on any more."
I think the laid-back "we'll fix it when we're darn good
and ready" attitude among some people has resulted in Grex almost
completely being unable to function. I mean really! Not wanting
to fix a power supply? Not bothering to enable a computer we
purchased months ago? What is it with you people?
How about just not bothering to have Grex at all?
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mta
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response 30 of 77:
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Oct 31 23:11 UTC 1997 |
David,
I don't know what bug has gotten into your britches lately, but I think
you're being overly harsh about the staff's use of time and resources.
Maybe Steve's response to the dial in queue is "live with it", but he's
not the only staffer and many others have voiced more concern.
Besides, it sounds to me like the the option isn't "use the queue or get
in immediately" but rather "Use the queue or don't dial in" or "Use the
queue, allow dialins, and have Grex crash every six hours". That's a
problem, and it's a problem that should be dealt with. But for the
moment which choice does the most good for the most people seems
obvious.
The queue is a short term band-aid while the staff works on a long term
solution to the problem.
No one said we aren't willing to fix the power supply, what they've said
is that we have another power supply that may be reliable, but we
have to get ahold of it, and that spending the time to try to fix the
current one a) isn't a guarantee that it'll work and b) would take time
away from what is a guaranteed fix of that and a multitude of other
problems our poor, over-worked computer is having.
Given that there is a very limited amount of staff time available, I
think it makes more sense to put the major effort into things that will
produce the greatest good over the longest term.
Sure, it's a shame that there's a limited amount of staff time. But
that's a fact of life on an all volunteer system run with the intention
to give the maximum service to the maximum number of people for free.
Other facts of life:
o We have antique equipment that takes time and persistance to learn.
o We have cast-off equipment, some of which may have been cast off for
a reason.
o We have a staff of volunteers who give their time to Grex from the
goodness of their hearts and because they enjoy the system and feel
good about helping out. But they do have lives. Some have families
to feed, all have family and friends who need some of their time,
too, and all have challenging careers to maintain, as well as other
hobbies.
You can bet that harping, whining and a lack of gratitude don't do a lot
for the staffs enjoyment of the work they do. And guess what -- if you
piss off volunteers, not only do they have the perfect right to walk
away, but you make it a hell of a lot harder to find a fool willing to
replace them under the heaps of invective.
If you think the staff's "lack of diligence" and refusal to donate every
waking moment has made Grex "almost completely ...unable to function",
just wait til you see what happens when the only people willing to take
on the job are technically inept power seekers. Won't that be some
fun system?
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scott
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response 31 of 77:
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Nov 1 15:17 UTC 1997 |
Thanks, Misti.
Good news: gregc has a power supply that may work, and I will probably be
able to pick it up this afternoon (and then run right to the Pumpkin to put
it in).
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scott
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response 32 of 77:
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Nov 1 20:35 UTC 1997 |
Patience is an important discipline!
Thanks to gregc, we have a good power supply, and modems are back to normal.
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davel
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response 33 of 77:
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Nov 1 21:53 UTC 1997 |
Is this Greg's power supply, or Grex's that Greg had stored? Just out of
curiosity - not sure from the wording of things.
What Misti said.
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mary
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response 34 of 77:
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Nov 1 22:42 UTC 1997 |
Leaving the dial-in lines in the queue would have been
expensive in the long run.
Are we borrowing the power supply from Greg? If so, his
loan is much appreciated but I'd really like to see us buy
one and get his loaner back ASAP.
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scg
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response 35 of 77:
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Nov 1 22:48 UTC 1997 |
I'm under the impression that Grex owns a bunch of spare Sun chassises, each
one of which would have a power supply. These are being stored at Greg's
house. I'm not sure whether this power supply came from one of those, or from
something that Greg owns. Anyway, we hopefully won't need it for very long,
sinice it's looking like we will be able to be on the 670 soon.
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aruba
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response 36 of 77:
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Nov 2 11:49 UTC 1997 |
Thanks very much, Scott, for taking care of this.
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dpc
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response 37 of 77:
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Nov 2 16:42 UTC 1997 |
I'm pleased that within about one day of my "vigorous expression of
opinion" we have the new power supply and the dialin situation is
fixed!
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scott
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response 38 of 77:
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Nov 2 18:18 UTC 1997 |
No cause and effect connection, though. The process of getting the
supply was already going when you gave your "pep talk".
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scott
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response 39 of 77:
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Nov 2 19:10 UTC 1997 |
I'm a little pissed at dpc's responses #29 and #37. I may be accusing David
of something he didn't intend to say/imply, but I want to get it off my chest
regardless.
My response #2 in this item was that I was waiting to hear back about a
possible replacement, which in fact is the one I installed yesterday. In
response #29, dpc basically accused staff of not even trying! I had already
acted on this even before this item had been entered.
Finally, in response #38 dpc sounds like he might (my impression) be taking
credit for getting staff motivated.
I sincerely hope this is not considered a form of "effective management".
My decision to spend several hours, unpaid, on a weekend, in a hot room doing
computer work (a business I am currently looking to get out of) was motivated
more by the kind of community exemplified in Misti's response #30, rather than
#29. If dpc's #29 had any effect on my motivation, it was fortunatly not
enough of an influence to make me decide *not* to blow Saturday afternoon on
putting in a new power supply. Management by insults is pretty good way to
lose volunteers. If I felt that the majority of Grex's members and users
expressed a "why the fuck haven't you fixed it yet, asshole" attitude, rest
assured I wouldn't be wasting my time here.
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robh
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response 40 of 77:
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Nov 2 22:50 UTC 1997 |
I'm confident that that attitude is in the minority here.
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remmers
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response 41 of 77:
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Nov 3 00:06 UTC 1997 |
Me too.
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scg
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response 42 of 77:
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Nov 3 00:18 UTC 1997 |
Thanks Scott. The work you did is appreciated.
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mta
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response 43 of 77:
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Nov 3 06:20 UTC 1997 |
Scott, I *know* you had more fun things to do with a saturday afternoon, and
that it probably took a certain amount of self control to go into a hot little
room and spend the day at a task that you knew (from this item) certain people
would fail to appreciate.
Thank you. I believe that I'm speaking for a large majority of Grexers when
I thank you profusely! I know I'm speaking from the bottom of my own heart.
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scott
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response 44 of 77:
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Nov 3 13:01 UTC 1997 |
No thanks needed. :) I was happy enough to get Grex running full steam
again, for the bulk of the people who use it. I may have overreacted a bit
to dpc's reponses; if so I apologize. I'm calmer today. :)
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jep
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response 45 of 77:
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Nov 3 14:35 UTC 1997 |
Thanks to Scott for fixing the problem.
Thanks to all of the staff of Grex for doing an amazing, marvelous
job at keeping this system running.
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senna
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response 46 of 77:
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Nov 4 07:00 UTC 1997 |
My thanks echoes to staff as well, though in the past month pressing
engagements have kept me so scarce that I've barely noticed the technical
difficulties.
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valerie
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response 47 of 77:
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Nov 5 04:50 UTC 1997 |
This response has been erased.
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tao
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response 48 of 77:
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Nov 7 20:45 UTC 1997 |
re 44: No, you didn't overreact. No apologies needed.
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dpc
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response 49 of 77:
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Nov 8 21:37 UTC 1997 |
Thanx *very much*, scott!
Heck, I'm just a "no excuses" kind of guy. We nags and squeaky
wheels have our roles to pay, too. 8-)
And the concept that *I* am involved in Grex management--the
mind boggles...
Once the 670 is up I will truly be a happy camper. When
is that supposed to happen?
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