Personalised Technical Support for a Fee?

[sharathpaps]

I am aware that Canonical has the 'Ubuntu Advantage' package wherein they provide 24/7 technical support to businesses and corporations running Ubuntu. I don't know how this works; I always imagine it would be something akin to an 'Annual Maintainence Contract' or some such understanding.

However, I was wondering how nice it would be if Canonical did the same for an individual - for a one time fee of course. A 'One problem - One time fee' concept. Much like you would do with a doctor or a lawyer or a plumber. I don't know if such a service actually exists. I suppose it could roughly work out like this:

1. Client contacts Canonical technical support who assigns a person extremely well versed with everything Ubuntu. Someone along the lines of a developer or such.

2. The client describe his/her problem and this person collects all required information required to fix it - either by having the client type commands and returning the output or maybe he/she can remotely access the client's system to asses the situation.

3. Once that is done, they quote a price and the client pays via credit card or PayPal.

4. They solve the problem for the client, again, via instructions or via remote access.

Advantages:

a) Income. Might not be much, I am not sure. But I guess it beats selling t-shirts and mugs and other merchandise. Part of the fee could go to Canonical and a part to the technical support person.

b) Client gets personalised real time solution from a qualified Canonical vetted professional. No waiting period. No guesswork.

c) Possibly, bugs could be identified faster and more reliably thereby benefitting the Ubuntu community at large.

d) Simple end users like me can get a problem solved without needing to learn and understand complex commands. A technically minded person on the other hand can learn from a master.


Why this you ask? Well, because I find myself in problems that are quite unique to me and my harware/software environment. No amount of Googling or posting on forums or trying out various troubleshooting tips might solve a particular problem at times. I know that 95% of the answers can be and are found in these forums and I respect this place for that, but, this service could help in the remaining 5% of the situations. I am a very average user and I feel a lot of average users like me would appreciate having access to that kind of professional technical support which will go a long way to make Ubuntu more popular.


I have a Canon Pixma E510 multi-function device that I want to use with Ubuntu. I have the printer working well, but can't get the scanner to work no matter what. I completely borked a Linux Mint install on another system and had to wipe and reinstall from scratch in the process of trying to get the scanner to work (Something to do with me removing 'libusb' completely). I now face the same problem with my Trusty install. I've been at it nearly 2 months now and that is what triggered this train of thought.

[lukeiamyourfather]

1. Client contacts Canonical technical support who assigns a person extremely well versed with everything Ubuntu. Someone along the lines of a developer or such.

2. The client describe his/her problem and this person collects all required information required to fix it - either by having the client type commands and returning the output or maybe he/she can remotely access the client's system to asses the situation.

3. Once that is done, they quote a price and the client pays via credit card or PayPal.

4. They solve the problem for the client, again, via instructions or via remote access.

That's consulting in a nutshell. There are many businesses and individuals that offer this service. Cost and expertise varies wildly and in the end you'll probably find that what Canonical is offering is a pretty good deal. One transaction with a knowledgeable consultant could easily cost more than a year of support from Canonical.