Re: Redhat participation

[Alan Shutko <ats acm org>]

"Steve \"Stevers!\" Coile" <scoile redhat com> writes:

> Given that we already give our product away, what would Red Hat have
> to offer volunteers?  

A boxed edition of every RH release would be nice.  Material benefits
don't have to be much, because the acknowledgement from RH also
helps.  Corel also brings their C_Techs up to Ottowa for a training
conference, but theirs is a larger and much older program, so it
probably wouldn't make sense for a new RH program.

> What would the volunteers want/need from Red Hat in the way of
> resources (e.g. access to a knowledgebase) in order to deliver this
> service?

* An internal newsgroup or mailing list where the volunteers can
  discuss things with each other and RH support staff.  

* Advance information on releases, plans, etc.  This would probably be
  under NDA, of course, but it would let the volunteers start
  prepping.

* Perhaps CD-Rs of later betas, so that they can try things out
  without needing lots of bandwidth.

> What would qualify a volunteer for the program?

Volunteers in the Corel program are chosen by nominations from
existing C_Techs.  The nominations are people who have consistently
been helpful, knowledgeable, and professional.  The seed group would
probably have be chosen from those RH personnel who read the mailing lists.

> How would unacceptable volunteer behavior be dealt with?  What would
> constitute unacceptable behavior?

Good question.  I don't really know... I'm a new C_Tech and I don't
know if there's been any unacceptable behavior.  I do know that
there's a regular evaluation of all the C_Techs by other C_Techs and
(I think) Corel personnel.  

> What degree of "performance" should we expect from volunteers?

The Corel papers say something about "30 quality responses" a week or
so, but that should probably be determined by RH.  I'm not sure I
understand completely... I simply try to do my best and keep on top of
things.

> Should every thread be addressed in some way?  Who's brought to task
> if a thread is missed?

Ideally, every problem should be addressed (which is not the same as
every thread).  They don't have to be addressed by the volunteers, but
any problem that someone else doesn't post a quick solution should be
noticed by a volunteer and addressed.

As for holding them responsible, Corel seems to take care of that with
the regular evaluations.  There might be a better way, but it would
probably require too much administation.

-- 
Alan Shutko <ats acm org> - Looking for a job in Long Island!
Check http://rescomp.wustl.edu/~ats/ for a resume.
IBM - Inferior but Marketable.