Online banking is restricting Linux Users!

[Victor Odhner]

I agree that if they're not against us, they're with us.

And of course they need a certain level of encryption
capability, which will rule out some older browsers.
I can even imagine them getting anxious about liability
under Sarbanes-Oxley because users may sue if their
non-compliant browser compromises critical information.
(Big corporations are all in a lather about S-OX right
now - this is legislation that over-reacted to Enron
and other scandals, and it has spawned a whole new
industry catering to frightened boards of directors.)

As one who supports software, I know that they can't
have their support organization trained to support
an unlimited set of client platforms.  Windows and Mac
happen to be the Top Two at the moment, but Linux is
gaining on the desktop and if they don't explicitly
support it now, they will increasingly in the future.

What would you say if they gave a specific list of
Linux distros and Linux-based browser versions that
they could support?  What if it were only the latest
Fedora release?  The fact is that no organization can
offer open-ended support for *all* versions of Linux,
because support means helping you solve your technical
problems.

I think it will improve, but I also believe that there
will always be a bias towards what is popular.  It's easy
to find Windows support "techs" who can recite,
"Is it plugged in?" or "Did you try rebooting it?"
but it's something else for them to know where the
network configs are located in each Linux distro.
They have their hands full navigating their users around
the new XP desktop as well as Win2K, ME and 9x.

Analogy:  15 years ago, I could not find Italian
Green Beans in my local supermarkets.  Folks just
didn't know what they were, let alone stocking them.
Now, I can't buy Domino Brownulated (granulated
brown sugar) anywhere in Phoenix -- the supermarkets
have dropped it.  If you don't want what most people
want, then you will work harder to get it.

So let me suggest these strategies:

1.  Use Linux happily as long as it works.

2.  When it doesn't work, find out if it can be
   spoofed by re-labeling your browser.  If so, then
   they need to be instructed.  If not, then there
   really is something about your setup that is not
   behaving as they expect it to, and because you are
   off the beaten track you're stuck with fixing it.

3.  When they need to be instructed, don't expect
   every support tech to be receptive.  Call repeatedly,
   over the course of days, to get different techs
   until one of them can tell you how to proceed.
   This should eventually lead you to someone who can
   see you as the kind of "customer who is always right",
   not just as a pain in the butt.

I always think back to a network problem I had on my
Win98/RedHat dual boot machine.  Linux worked fine,
and Windows didn't.  I had a Cox tech on the line for
a solid *hour*, taking me constructively through tests
under both systems until he found a tweak that worked
from his end -- finally he re-provisioned the modem.
He never objected to talking about Linux, just took it
as another clue.

So sometimes it's the luck of the draw.  You never get
service from a company:  only from the good *people* who
work there.

And if you're disturbed about a stated policy from
Wells Fargo, let me give you a chuckle:  In 2002 I took
a temp job as a clerical drudge at Wells Fargo.
They wanted me to sign an agreement, and after having
a good laugh I went ahead and signed.  No big thing.
I just conveyed to them ownership of any software I
had ever written or might write in the future.
Hey, after all, they were offering me $12 an hour.  ;-)

So don't get too concerned about Wells Fargo "policies".
They haven't come after me yet, for all that software.
(Although I wouldn't recommend for most people to sign
that agreement -- some of you probably *own* some of
the software you have written.)

BTW, my wife and I have been happy customers of
Wells Fargo for about 10 years now.

Vic