IT Support Guide

[James Deuce]

We're here to help. Honest.

The following is helpful advice for making sure that you don't end up with the BOFH, or Dilbert on the other end of the phone.

If you haven't been able to login to your PC for an entire shift, don't log a high priority call 2 minutes before your shift is over, then go home, leaving your work cellphone in your desk drawer. Makes it hard to know if the fix I just did worked or not, plus you got me out of bed.

The same goes for logging a call with the helpdesk or servicedesk right before morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, or that three day conference in Rarotonga you're just off to now.

[davebullet]

Only one solution for people like that

cd $users\user_id
rm -r *

[James Deuce]

It is tempting.

[Cajun]

know that feeling got woke up three times last week, for idiot end users.

[merv]

Jim you haven't told us much about your new job yet but is it likely to still be much the same as the old one?

[Lias]

Jim you haven't told us much about your new job yet but is it likely to still be much the same as the old one?

When he starts polishing his rifle again and muttering in the corner, we know its like his old one :-)

[discotex]

Time to pull out this all time classic :lol:

aZQma8t6no4

[Supermac Jr]

cd $users\user_id
rm -r *

what happens when you do this? (honest question)

[ManDownUnder]

what happens when you do this? (honest question)
Their ability to login gets adversely affected.

[ManDownUnder]

Mate of mine kept getting unwelcome phone calls requesting help, ringing his cell, desk and eventually his home so he put on a drunk act, and told them it's ok - he knew what to do and proceded to _nearly_ fix the problem.

I don't recall details but the mess was terrible, and cost the company involved many person hours of 'correction time'....

[discotex]

Their ability to login gets adversely affected.

Probably not... Their home dir would just be empty.

The example is bad sysadmin form anyway. You don't use "*" like that with an rm -r ever. What happens if you're in the wrong dir? Oh fuck moment :nono:

Should have been (assuming Linux):

cd /home; rm -r user_id

But then that's still lame. Much better to leave all their files but chown them to root and 600 permissions or for more fun symlink some of them to /dev/random mwaHaHAHAHA :baby:

[Sniper]

http://www.thinkgeek.com/images/products/zoom/will-not-fix.jpg

1234567890

[Gremlin]

I'm currently enjoying this one...

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j__xi1NU_2c&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j__xi1NU_2c&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

Recent joy was a user getting an iphone, no consultation with IT, and thought it would work straight off for emails etc. First iphone, and I have to figure out how to make it work (Apple can't make the bloody things like Nokia or Windows Mobile can they) :crybaby:

[davebullet]

what happens when you do this? (honest question)

Are you serious? RTFM mate! (just kidding) - or technically "man rm"

On a Unix system, the above removes all files and directories under the current working directory.

If you are a superuser and are used to MS DOS - do not do

rm - r *.*

* pattern matches all files in unix - so the *.* is not necessary to pick up extensions.

I once saw someone attempt an rm - r*.* from /tmp. In Unix (and DOS ) ".." equals the parent directory, so effectively they were telling Unix to go up a folder to root (/) and remove everything on all mounted filesystems! - hahaha.

Needless to say I ran my recursive fork (check man 2 fork) wth nice -20 to quickly fill up the process table with high priority jobs and prevent the rm -r *.* from running.

Ok - enough geeking out.

PS: For those that don't know - BOFH = bastard operator from hell. I recall the series written for this fictional character when I first started in IT many moons ago. Classic reading.

Oh the memories....

[jono035]

Don't trust flatmates around computers either.

When I was a student I was trying to put together a cheap firewall/router box with bits of scavenged parts. Had a stack of questionable hard drives I had been trying to install mandrake on, finally got one to install after about 5-6 duds and had the hard drive sitting on top of the case. Flatmate walks in to see what I was up to while fiddling with a shot glass, flicked it in his fingers, dropped it straight onto the hard drive... Crashed the top head into the platter so bad it gouged a groove into the surface and couldn't seek back out of the groove... Not that being able to seek still would have helped but still...

[davebullet]

Much better to leave all their files but chown them to root and 600 permissions or for more fun symlink some of them to /dev/random mwaHaHAHAHA :baby:

Or put then in one big gzip / tar / cpio / dump file removing originals and say to the user "they are all there, I just filed them away for you".

Then give them an awk script which you say will extract the needed files "with some editing"... when infact the file name you type in as a parameter will remove it from the archive.

The user is then fully responsible for the accidental deletion of their own files.

Not that I could implement such a heinous plot. (Because, I don't know how and there are better things to do with life really, like bulk import vCards into Thunderbird for Mrs. B)

[pete376403]

Be like Microsoft support and ask for a credit card number before you can help

[Fatjim]

Get a real job man, making real things. Shit IT geeks are no better than investment bankers.

[Gremlin]

Get a real job man, making real things. Shit IT geeks are no better than investment bankers.
I love guys with this attitude... I wait until something they really need breaks... then I'm their best friend...

Of course... this attitude only lasts as long as the problem exists :rolleyes:

[James Deuce]

Only problem is, he's a shit IT guy too. See what missing a comma does? ;)

[Wally Simmonds]

See Jim, you're still dealing with end users. Get a job which requires you to swan about giving 'advice' all day - works for me.

Projects ftw.

[Street Gerbil]

Is your son's full name really
James'); drop table student_grades;--?

[Blackshear]

I’d just like to interject for a moment. What you’re referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called “Linux”, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.

There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called “Linux” distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

[xwhatsit]

All the so-called “Linux” distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.
Yeah I saw RMS do a guest lecture at Auckland Uni... he sounded almost as silly as he reads.

Nevertheless he's got some hella interesting ideas. Very, very smart guy.

[Blackshear]

Yeah I saw RMS do a guest lecture at Auckland Uni... he sounded almost as silly as he reads.

Nevertheless he's got some hella interesting ideas. Very, very smart guy.

I was hoping a couple other people would bite before someone like YOU popped up! :rolleyes:

[Brian d marge]

Only one solution for people like that

cd $users\user_id
rm -r *

like that very much , specially:devil2: last bit !!

Stephen

just try an explain that to a vista user ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,( fk it )

[YellowDog]

I hear to be good at IT support you need to have an understanding wife and also an understanding mistress.

When you are away: Your mistress assumes you are with your wife and your wife assumes you are with your mistress.

This is the only way you can ever get some fucking work done.

[jono035]

I think the sticking point of GNU/Linux as a name does kind of show what some of the problem with the linux community is...

Who cares how proper the naming scheme is, Linux is snappy and well known, GNU plus Linux doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, and maybe the more important thing is to get more people using the OS rather than confusing people with multiple names?

I'm an electrical engineer doing mostly hardware design, so maybe I lack some software genes or something...

[caesius]

GNU/Linux?

Nah, FreeBSD ftw

[Gubb]

"Hello IT, have you tried turning it off and on again?"

[jono035]

"Hello IT, have you tried turning it off and on again?"

Heh, The IT Crowd is awesome...

[xwhatsit]

"Hello IT, have you tried turning it off and on again?"
Gold! I like the tape-recorder version :D

I just got (and watched) the third season the other day. I think it was screened in March. Still very good.