"Paul Jacobs" <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I was under the impression that most people in the
> Unix/Linux world are there because they can make any custom config they
> want..... but sun is saying they will not support custom config's???
I'm curious, do you know of other server appliance vendors who support their
software if you make custom changes to it? I'm comfortable with the current
arrangement. Sun could choose to offer free support for their servers
regardless of how the customer modifies them, but they'd likely incur much
higher support expenses which would need to be passed on to their customers
one way or the other. Would you prefer free no-strings support if it meant
that the servers cost 50% more?
Would those of us who either are experienced server administrators or
use the RaQs for their intended
purpose? I doubt it. I know I wouldn't. Sure, Sun probably gives the
impression that anyone can run them and the server admin will never have to
stray from the GUI, but the fact remains that they're marketed as server
appliances which can be used to do very basic web hosting. I'm not saying
Sun shouldn't be more lenient, and I haven't dealt with Sun for support
since a hard drive failed on a RaQ2 in 1999, but I can relate to Sun's
position because I build software for clients. If a client modifies the
software I build and it no longer works as expected it's not really
reasonable to expect that I can support it for free. If you want more
support than Sun offers you really should consider buying your server
through a good VAR (Value Added Reseller) who offers a support package,
lease a server from a hosting provider that does the same or work with
someone like me or the others on the list who do contract server
administration. My 2 cents.