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  • You can lead a horse to water...

    So, a customer asks me how to install a patch. Pretty simple question right? Well....you know what they say about horses and water...

    For clarity, this exchange took place over several emails. For a normal customer, it takes just one.

    SC: How do I apply a patch?
    Me: *working on deal-breaker case, not exactly wanting to type out instructions* Patch instructions are at the bottom of the changelog found with the patch.
    SC: Excuse me (yep, she--at least I think it's a she--really put that in her email) but what am I looking at the bottom of?
    Me: The change log. *gives exact path to find it on our FTP, which incidentally, is the same path to the patch itself!* (Also, I noticed that there was also a separate file containing just the patch installation instructions there!)
    SC: The patch is already applied to Management Server.
    SC: What are the instructions to apply a patch to gateways?
    SC: Do I just SSH in and run it from the root?
    Me: (I did not respond, I hope that tomorrow, I see an email saying she figured it out. Well bless my heart.)

    You uh, didn't even connect to the FTP much less read the directions, did you? Hey, can I have the email address of your HR guy? I hear your company might have a InfoSec position available soon.

    And she's not the only customer I dealt with recently that couldn't think their way out of an unlocked car. How do these people get IT much less IS jobs? How do they not drown in a rainstorm staring up slack-jawed at the sky?

    This isn't even excusable by saying "oh I'm a Windows guy" (our product runs linux--as most security appliances do!) since the instructions are quite explicit. Not to mention that due to the ubiquity of linux in security applications, familiarity with it ought to be a requirement for an IS position.

    Edit:

    And in the morning, I find the same question.

    So I give in and tell her. And she's still having problems. She sent me a screenshot of her SSH session. The problem is staring her in the face--she pasted in the filename twice. How can she not see that?

    At this point I am wondering if I'm talking to the same person who handled the rest of the case--this case wasn't opened as a "how do I install the patch" question, that came up as a side question--because the rest of the case went very smooth and easy.
    Last edited by otakuneko; 08-15-2014, 01:23 PM. Reason: Update
    Supporting the idiots charged with protecting your personal information.

  • #2
    Quoth otakuneko View Post
    And she's not the only customer I dealt with recently that couldn't think their way out of an unlocked carconvertible with the top down.
    Fixed that for you.
    Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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    • #3
      So she sent you a screenshot of her text session. My developers do that too.
      Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
      Save the Ales!
      Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

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      • #4
        Geez, I could do a better job than that lady, and I have no formal training at all. Then again, I grew up with command-line.

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