I have, what I think , is an interesting idea.

Somebody, LinuxQuestions.org(?), should/could start a company that does Help Desk/Support for Linux. Any Linux.

Here is how it could work.

All the various levels of experts on LinuxQuestions.org could work the Help Desk.

Users call a 900 number ($1/min or per incidence charge).

When user connects, they could select by distro (possibly).

Then they could select a category of problem.

Calls can then be routed to technician based on user selection, no matter where in the world. (PBX handles that).

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The driving force behind this idea are all the posts from people that talk about how difficult it is to get started in Linux and that Windows has so much better support (or is easier to use).

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With todays technology, technicians can be employed from all over the world and they can work from home. This would eliminate office space overhead.

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All of you guys that are giving advice for free on here, could make a living from it. You could still post here, but I bet people would pay to talk to someone live and right when they need it.

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Responses?

Would newbies here use such a service?

Things to think about...

If you buy RedHat, you can call RedHat support.
If you buy Mandrake, you can call Mandrake support, etc.

But what if you download a distro? No phone support, right? What if you can do everything do get your system running but just one little thing stumps you? Wouldn't it be cool to be able to call someone and have it worked out in a few minutes? Say, spend $15-$20. Lot less than the $149 for RedHat box (which is for one year).

There is a lot more behind the ideas I have. Such as how the phone thing would work (BS - Minor Telecommunications Management). Level of expertise of the experts here (or wherever). Techs would be tested on knowledge level and can be upgraded. Calls would be transferred based on user need (at level) and tech would be paid as such as well.

Anyway, let's hear your opinions.

I moved the thread to General, because it's not a question for Linux-Newbie.
cokeonice, your idea is really nice, but the problem is that it's really hard to do. Probably that's why there's no such a company now.

isn't that what linuxcare use to do?

I thought about where I should post it and felt "Linux - Newbie" was appropriate since it would be Newbies that would be most interested in the concept. Newbies probably not as likely to see it here. But that is OK. the post was not intended as marketing research.

I am new to Linux too and so would not know of LinuxCare. Was it a company that tried this concept?

Nice idea if it would work but you have to think most either work full time jobs and only come here in our spare time. Unless it was already established and was making money; I would be able to quit and get a full benefits package, pay, health.. etc to do that myself.

Let me tell you why this won't work. Most people I know don't like the idea of calling a 900 type number to get charged by the minute. If you were going to charge for services, the most ideal way would have a toll free and then they pay by either per incident over the phone and or the client/person would have already paid support for a certain amount of time or number of incidents.

[quote]When user connects, they could select by distro (possibly).

Then they could select a category of problem./quote]This would be no problem setting up on a phone system.

You want to know how difficult this would be actually. If you had support technicians working around the world, this can cause problems as how would one manage these users? Some companies have enough difficult time with their support technicians answering their phones in the same building where they all are centrally located. I would think you would need all your technicians located in the same location for this to work and manage them effeciently.

This whole concept is still easier said then done. There is so much more to it than writing down on paper or on a forum thread really.
You have to think of costs for servers to create a database for client/call tracking. Servers to handle and route calls for telephone services. Managing peeps from all over the world would not be so easy to manage and train, etc.

Something like this would take alot of resources to start with, including money, people, investors, technology, etc.

I think some newbies would use the service but I think most would come to a site like this where they get free support first. The one's you would have to target are companies that use Linux and to support their users. And with that in mind, you'd probably have to create a sales team just to get your services going for your new company.

All very good responses to my post, trickykid!

I should say that this idea was a light bulb as I was reading another post earlier.

LOL, I am hardly an intreprenuer. Therefore the reason behind the post.

I thought of responses to your responses but again, this is not a marketing research. Only to see how newbies would 'feel' about such a service.

So far, no newbie has responded. Mostly only you pros!

That is why I had originally posted in the Newbie forum...

.....or

you could just have that person post on Linuxquestions.org.

Hmm.....

The latter sure seams more cost effective and easier than the former

Go figure

Ok, I'm what you might call a newbie to linux. My extent of linux knowledge consists of my ability to install redhat correctly (tried it once upon a time) and make sure my programs compile and run correctly under RedHat 7.2 and Solaris for classes at school.

Gentoo will soon be installed on my server (happily running Win2k Pro right now, but needs a new HD) as soon as I can find a NIC for cheap (officemax). If it lives up to what I've heard about "emerge" I WILL RULE!

Anyway, my thoughts on your idea. I would not pay per minute, I've seen tech support, and it is never fast. Nor would I recommend per incedent as a business practice (how would you balance the 1 minute call "to delete all sub-dirs use rm -r" with the "My 9500 pro doesn't work in Suse." Just not a good business model.

If I wanted to pay for support (something some linux users don't want to do, as I here "I'll never pay another $ for M$ crap") I'd like a deal like Red Hat, Mandy, etc have where I pay say $20 for the support license, and I can have as little or as much as I need (not sure if this is Red Hat's , etc.. exact business plan).

Just my thoughts.



Linux has it's place. So does Windows. Neither one works best in all situations.

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