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[Tim]

On Sun, 2010-03-28 at 17:08 -0500, Mikkel wrote:
> One thing that can help in the fight to educate users is to start
> charging to fix their system. Yes, it is hard to charge your friends
> and family for fixing things, But for some reason, they listen to
> your advice better if they are paying for it.

Yes.  It starts with the simple, I get a good meal for fixing your
computer.  And you can probably end it by asking them to unblock your
toilet while you fix their computer.  ;-)

Whenever someone asks you to fix their computer, ask them to help you do
something to help you, in return.  You can use that to actually get
things done that you need help with, or dissuade them from asking you
again.  Simply by careful selection of your payment.  ;-)  Be sure to
pick something equally time-consuming and aggravating.  Plumbing,
painting, gardening...

I view having to fix someone else's computer with the same relish as if
they'd asked me to unblock their toilet, with my bare hands.  And I tell
people that all the time.  It gets the message through.

These days I tell people I don't use Windows any more, and haven't for
years.  I can't even recommend a good anti-virus program to them, or
anti-malware, etc., because I don't use them, and don't need to.  So
I've no idea which are good.  And, no, I don't want someone to tell me
about which are the current good ones (I think they all suck, anyway).
That line has saved me from many wasted hours.

-- 
[tim at localhost ~]$ uname -r
2.6.27.25-78.2.56.fc9.i686

Don't send private replies to my address, the mailbox is ignored.  I
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