(no subject)

[Gabriel Donnell]

Hello BellSouth.net Feedback Representative,

I Changed to MindSpring because the authentication
is configured to work well with Linux.  Plus, they
provide very good references, links and other
resources to help Linux customers configure their
system to dial-in to their network.

Even though they do not directly support Linux,
their technical support still provides as much
assistance as they can.  Also, they have and
provide documentation on how to configure the
Linux OS to dial-in and establish authentication.

My experiences with BellSouth.net support was
very bad, and the support people would shunted
their support when they found out I use Linux.
In one case, I had a VALinux (computer vendor)
technical support rep on the phone line with me
so he could tell the BellSouth.net technical
support rep that I needed the default gateway
address and the authentication protocol.  The
BellSouth.net rep just hung up without saying
anything when he was not able to find the
information.

Eventually, some people from VALinux, the Atlanta
Linux Enthusiasts (ALE) organization, and the
Linux General Store help me figure out what I
needed to do to configure my system to establish
the authentication.

The fix was very simple.  The Linux default
configuration:
1. Does NOT send anything to the ISP connection
   to indicate that the login prompt is desired.
2. Expects the "login:" string from the ISP
   connection for the account name.
That is how must Unix-based platforms work.
Henseforth, the MindSpring authentication works
fine with the default Linux configuration, and it
does not require any special knowledge nor
changes.

However, for BellSouth.net authentication:
1. The ISP connection requires a blank line to
   be sent to to indicate that the login prompt
   is desired.
2. Sends "username:" instead of "login:" for the
   account name prompt.
Must Unix-based platforms do work this way.
Therefore, the BellSouth.net authentication does
NOT work with the default Linux configuration,
and it requires special knowledge and changes.

I think this type of problem could have been
prevented in many ways which I described below:
1. BellSouth.net should take Linux more serious
   than they do because it is a very popular OS
   that has gone beyond the hobbiests community.
   However, BellSouth.net competition may like
   that BellSouth.net does not support Linux or
   Unix because it is more business for them.
2. BellSouth.net should research and investigate
   ways to Support Linux, or at least provide some
   information.  They should not shunt customers
   who use Linux or a Unix-based OS.  Remember,
   Unix is the OS that the network started on,
   and it will NOT die off to MS-Windows & Mac.
3. BellSouth.net should research and investigate
   the big momentum Linux has gained.  There are
   many major companies like Intel, Compaq,
   Hewlett-Packard and several others that wised
   up and provide resources to assist the Linux
   agenda.  As a former Intel Merced IA-64
   microprocessor engineer, I am well informed on
   the efforts Intel provides for Linux.
4. BellSouth.net should train their technical
   support staff to understand the underlying
   process that occurs during authentication.
   These are the procedures that are embedded in
   the BellSouth.net Internet CD for MS-Windows
   OS.  This would have solved my problem a long
   time ago.

This may not be important to BellSouth.net, and
the BellSouth.net person reading this may have
stopped reading before this point.  If that
happened, then it will be a great lost to
BellSouth.net.

As a contractor for BellSouth International
Wireless Services and BellSouth Telephone
Services customer, I attempted to maintain my
loyalty by using BellSouth.net for my ISP.  Even
after I got the bad support from BellSouth.net,
I still tried to give BellSouth.net the benefit
of the doubt and hang in there.

To maintain the loyalty I committed to support
the efforts of Linux, I choose pay for products
and services which support Linux.  Therefore, I
switched to MindSpring for my ISP.

Regards,
Gabriel Donnell

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