Paid Linux Support For Individual Users? 19
Frustrated and Disappointed asks: "I have been using Linux for a decade, but sometimes I just don't know how to solve a problem. What's more, I don't have the time (or interest) to teach myself enough about some obscure subject to debug it myself. Are there companies or freelancers out there willing to provide paid support for individuals on a problem-by-problem basis? I don't need yearly maintenance or weekly support, just a couple times a year. This time around, for example, I can't get a desktop box to play sound. The HOWTOs are years out of date, there are no man pages, the mailing lists are silent, and the #debian channels were nothing but insults. While I don't mind doing some of my own problem solving -- I'm a very technical person -- I have a job and other responsibilities, and I'm not interested in hacking sound drivers to begin with. I don't have the option of installing a whole new distro just to qualify for a vendor's support plan."
debian help (Score:2, Informative)
Also
http://www.debianplanet.org/ [debianplanet.org]
Google Answers! (Score:4, Informative)
LUGs (Score:4, Informative)
I've had potential clients ring me up and ask if I do personal linux support (as opposed to supporting a company). I say, yes I do, but I charge so much it would be far cheaper just to ask on the LUGs. I pointed out that I read the LUGs, and may well end up helping you, but I do the LUG thing for free.
Re:debian help (Score:3, Informative)
Then there's the annual installfests that many LUGs run, and a good LUG will also run a workshop every few months where you can bring along your PC to get a tricky sound card or other peripheral configured properly.
This is peer-to-peer support at its best.
Re:Email, Not IRC (Score:3, Informative)
Re:And a lone idea shall lead them to the Holy Lan (Score:3, Informative)
Paid support could never act like that.
Peers will never have rules of conduct on how they treat their "customers" and shouldn't.
What stands in the way isn't the peer support going on, it's the lack of a really good quality paid support company.
Example: RedHat's paid support pretty well sucks, and they're probably one of the "better" ones around. Granted I only had to deal with them on a single issue on the phone, one time -- but that was enough to make me realize I'd never recommend them again for service.