Re: FORWARDING: Message from Steve Buggie

[glyn@cs.ualberta.ca (Devin Reade)]

Steve Buggie [indirectly] writes:

>        Note the memo that follows from the Computer Boss of our branch
>campus.  The message decrees, "IBM ONLY."
[...]
>Still, if anyone has any ideas by
>which I can assert my rights to have a non-Windozz computer connected to
>e-mail, let me know!

Well, no offense intended, but I think you're off base here.  First,
I doubt that you have any "rights" when it comes to computers.
\begin{sidetopic}
Anyone besides me think that many people are too concerned with
rights and not enough with duty?
\end{sidetopic}

Second, and more relevently, I don't interpret the letter you included
as saying "You're only allowed to connect IBM machines."  It sounds more
like "we only offer techsup for type XXXX machines".  There is a whole
world of difference, and is not at all unreasonable (abeit undesirable
to may users).

What should you do?  Someone else mentioned requesting a UNIX shell account.
This is reasonable, and if the answer is "no", then you have grounds
to complain (assuming your campus has UNIX machines, of course).
Adding a user to an already-running UNIX machine requires a lot less
maintenance than does a lot of disjoint machines and their associated
operating systems.

Alternately, learn how to maintain your Mac yourself and don't depend
on your techsup people other than to provide IP routing et al.  If it
doesn't require extra work and more knowledge than they seem to have,
I suspect that they will be happy to "support" it, if only due to 
potential political ramifications.

--
	Devin Reade	gdr@myrias.com