making a Seq box for a friend

[Tacitblue]

Is it wrong for me to make a friend a Seq box?

By make i mean install RH and then get SEQ up and running on that box that he provides me. Oh and provide a utility to send the decode from his eq box.

Or should I make him learn how to install/update seq on his own?

The only real drawback that i can see is that i'd have to update his box whenever Seq was broken.

Does anyone else do this kind of thing for friends?

[jbarrio5]

You should sit down and teach him how to do it, if not you are getting a new tech support call for life.
"A new version came out, how do I compile a new one?"
"It wont decode, I pluged it in to my new switch, and now I cant seee anything!"
Well, you get the picture.
If he's gonna cheat, at least make him work for it!

Oh, and by the way, please show him how to use the search button, unless he likes getting flamed.

[e28plug]

LET HIM / HER DO IT ON THEIR OWN!!!!

They may not like the idea, but with a bit of a shove in the right direction they shoould have no problems. I tried for weeks to get a bud of mine to set up my SEQ. He wouldn't do it. Just kept telling me to go to the boards and look it up. He used to tell me "it is all there, just SEARCH "! Now I am very grateful to him. I dont have to rely on him to fix my broken box and I am learning a new OS. That was 18 months ago. (Holy shit I have been screwing with this for that long ?!?!) What a great friend!!!!!!!

HINT: INSTALL.newbies is a wonderful resource.

http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/seq/showeq/INSTALL.newbies#dirlist

[dirfrops]

I knew NOTHING about Linux, SEQ, compiling, programming, sourcecode....

Until a friend of mine told me about this program that he used to use when EQ first came out...he said he doesn't know anything about it now cause some things on it broke and he didn't follow that sourcecode stuff...In fact he didn't even knew if it was still "out there."

SOOO...I got curious and visited a couple websites and even emailed some developer asking me where to go and what to do...all he had in his reply was seq.sourceforge.net SOO..I checked it out...bought Linux, installed it...found the newbie page, downloaded that and BOOM...I'm up and running.

Then the new packet coding occurred and now I'm learning about key sniffers and UDP and CYGWIN and MINGW and LCC etc. etc.

I tell ya, learning all on your own (with message board help of course) was hard, VERY hard...but challenging nonetheless...

Now I am able to talk someone through an install over the phone or over AIM, heh...I have come a long way learning by MYSELF..and so can your friend...

And guess what, I am now teaching that friend of mine how to get BACK into seq....

Sure it's frustrating when SEQ breaks...like right now...makes me want to learn what the devs are doing so I can help out...but I wouldn't know where to begin.

So in short (and I know this post doesnt really belong here) have him do it, give him pointers...be a teacher not a trainer.

That's my 2cp, ...so is it fixed yet? ;)

[Bobo_Da_necro]

I'm glad i sat down and figured it out myself..only 3 things i can recommend to someone setting up for first time
1. read everything 2 times
2. use search option if you cant figure it out
3. ask nicely if you cant find it in search

thank you guys for doing such a great job on guides..and the Devs are gods in my book

[cbreaker]

Obviously I get all this stuff running on my own, but I have two other friends that I also run seq for.

It's really simple. Once I run "make" on my linux box, I have a script that tars up the seq folder, copies the tarball to their linux boxes, extracts it, and runs "make install" on their boxes.

It's so much easier for me, they really don't know much about linux and stuff and instead of teaching them to compile all sorts of garbage and stuff, I say "Install a linux box and get it on the network" and I just run the script... easier for me to maintain.

[Cryonic]

Even that teaches them something (though not a lot given the current state of the installers for RH and other distros).

[S_B_R]

Not only will you be getting Tech support calls for life. You'll also be getting the incessant "Is it fixed yet?" /tells in game.

I know from experience... :( Have them figure out for themselves, and don't give them that answers when they ask you. It's ok to point the to the right thread, or the right search keywords, but let them read it and understand it for themselves.

[cheese_poker]

I knew nothing about Linux before my SEQ adventures. Teaching them would be the best way to go. It'd be a bit of spoon feeding compared to what most SEQ users go through, but certainly don't do it *for* them !!

Knowledge is never a bad thing.

[HRPuffinstuff]

/shrug

Depends on your friend. If he/she has:

1. A good chance of using the knowledge gained by installing their own SEQ in the future (i.e. an interest an Linux, open source projects, etc.), then by all means teach them to do it.

2. OTOH, if your friend is a dyed-in-the-wool MS windows user, and 99.9% of the software they use, and will ever use, is purchased from WorstBuy/CompUSA/Walmart/etc. don't waste your time. Send them a tarball every now and then and they'll be tickled pink.

HR

[S_B_R]

My *friend* is deffinately in category number 2... But I set him up about a year ago and he is deffinately drifting closer to category number 1. He's actually looking for other software that he could run/use on his Linux box, like IM, Browsers, Email, and etc..

I was talking to him just the other night and I asked him to run 'uptime' and he was awestruck that his Linux box had been up for 96 days. Granted that's nothing spectacular for the seasoned Linux crowd, but for a Windows junky, he was absolutely amazed. :)

[Lyroschen]

Another option is to provide him an icon in RH to run a script to update seq. Perhaps another to update LibEQ and QT. ::shrug:: Then, the only time you'll need to do anything for him is if the script fails.

Most annoyance you'll usually get is if he's not smart enough to know which script to run. But, then your call will consist of telling him to click a couple icons (like a good windoze user), and not having to go to his place and actually do the update yourself.

[cbreaker]

I suppose it depends on the friend.

Anyone that I set up Seq for is always patient about letting me "fix" it once it's been fixed by the developers. I don't really mind it.

[bigfoot]

I've been using SEQ for about a year now and love every minute of it.

I do lurk at this site all the time been coming here daily for about 6 months now and the only reason I'm posting is cause I'm glad UncleBen never saw this post before he got me setup:)

You guys rock and UncleBen sucks:) (I'm gonna pay for that comment):D

Keep up the good work and if my opinon counts sure set up your buddy He's gonna learn whether he wants to or not:)

[NHRAfan]

If your friend is a hot blond woman with a nice rack, go for it if you think you will get some action.

Otherwise let the lazy ass learn himself so you don't get stuck doing tech support after every patch.

[jbarrio5]

"Hot blond", "Nice rack", "Female", "Linux" and “Everquest", are yet to be found in the same sentence in the real world, unless they are accompanied by: "My sister", "Transvestite", "Hallucination", "While I smoked crack", or "Vivid Video".
That is some dream you have there, a hot looking girl using EQ, or SEQ for that matter. Go drool over a Female Dark Elf!

[Archaeopteryx]

"Give a man a fish, he eats for one day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for life."

[Alwayslost]

"Give a woman a Fish, and she gives it back to you and tells you to clean it. TEACH a woman to fish, and she goes out to buy a Vibrator"


/em runs and hides.

[permafrost]

Give a man a candle, he is warm for a day.
Light a man on fire and he is warm for the rest of his life!



permafrost

[Aardvark]

sure, make it for him and have him post here if he has any problems. The friend folks here will help him out with open arms and baited breath.