Wudang
BOFH
At the root, all errors are user errors...
The phrase "idiot user" is a tautology.
PEBCAK.
LART
etc
Dear Users... (A thread for Sysadmin, Technical Support, and Help Desk people)
- Thread starter JoeMorgue
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The phrase "idiot user" is a tautology.
PEBCAK.
LART
etc
theprestige
Penultimate Amazing
Perhaps, but I suspect that this is true only for definitions of "user" that are too broad to be useful in problem analysis and resolution.
"Program doesn't work because user can't remember to sign in properly" is very different from "program doesn't work because the developer introduced a bug". Categorizing them both as "user error" makes troubleshooting impossible. The very first thing you'd have to do is establish separate subcategories for "user-user error" and "developer-user error". Ultimately, the super-category of "user error" becomes completely irrelevant.
CORed
Penultimate Amazing
My mentor in programming said there are two types of error: DSU and DSP, where DSU id Dumb **** User, and DSP is Dumb **** Programmer.
theprestige
Penultimate Amazing
That seems a little too simplistic, but is probably useful for prodding inexperienced developers to get more serious about writing good code.
---
ETA: Especially in complex systems. There are whole categories of error that arise not from anyone being dumb, but from developing complex systems with a greater surface area of interactions than can be reasonably comprehended by any one person or group of people. Nobody's being a dumb ****. In fact, a lot of people are being quite smart. But the error arises anyway, because nobody can predict everything in advance and some things only get discovered when a particular use case is invented.
A programmer isn't a dumb **** for failing to predict all the possible use cases of his code in emergent systems of arbitrary complexity.
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arthwollipot
Limerick Purist Pronouns: He/Him
Me: Can I get the asset number of your computer please?
Them: Where can I find that?
Me: It's on a sticker on the outside of your computer.
Them: Um, I can't find one. It doesn't have one.
Me: Every computer owned by the department must have one.
Them: Oh, there's one on my laptop, but that's not...
Me: Yes, the laptop is your computer. That's what I need.
Them: Oh.
Them: Where can I find that?
Me: It's on a sticker on the outside of your computer.
Them: Um, I can't find one. It doesn't have one.
Me: Every computer owned by the department must have one.
Them: Oh, there's one on my laptop, but that's not...
Me: Yes, the laptop is your computer. That's what I need.
Them: Oh.
Norman Alexander
Penultimate Amazing
Goes along with:
Me: Please reboot your computer.
Them: OK, I turned it off and on again.
Me: GACK! ...OK, let's wait for it to reboot.
Them: Oh it came back instantly.
Me: ...what?? It should still be rebooting now...
Them: No, I turned off the power button on the screen and then turned it back on. That's what you meant, right?
Me: ....*SIGH*...
Me: Please reboot your computer.
Them: OK, I turned it off and on again.
Me: GACK! ...OK, let's wait for it to reboot.
Them: Oh it came back instantly.
Me: ...what?? It should still be rebooting now...
Them: No, I turned off the power button on the screen and then turned it back on. That's what you meant, right?
Me: ....*SIGH*...
arthwollipot
Limerick Purist Pronouns: He/Him
Just finished my switch assist training. This is fine. It's going to be easy.
Norman Alexander
Penultimate Amazing
arthwollipot
Limerick Purist Pronouns: He/Him
Well, I answered it wrongly - I answered with my normal Service Desk greeting rather than a switchboard greeting. But as my trainer said, the callers don't usually even hear that.It will all fall apart at the first phone call.
Good luck!
It's fine. This is easy.
arthwollipot
Limerick Purist Pronouns: He/Him
WTF does "advise the dock at the desk" mean??? Thanks, Desktop Support, that's a very clear instruction. 
Blue Mountain
Resident Skeptical Hobbit
WTF does "advise the dock at the desk" mean??? Thanks, Desktop Support, that's a very clear instruction.
They misspelled "dock." The "o" should be an "i"
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Wudang
BOFH
WTF does "advise the dock at the desk" mean??? Thanks, Desktop Support, that's a very clear instruction.
If you have something to say, say it to your docking station? The "f off and don't bother us" is silent.
Lothian
should be banned
My work on line IT help desk chat person has just asked "bare with me" as he fixes the problem. l am not sure how it helps but I am now getting quite cold. Is this a common request you guys make?
Wudang
BOFH
Yes they do it to calibrate the webcams.
"My computer looks different."
"Yes I know. Your PC was upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10."
"But it looks all different!"
"Well.. yes. It's a new OS. All your files, folders, and programs are still there."
"BUT IT LOOKS DIFFERENT!"
"Yes... I know... it's... a.... new... operating... system. It still works the same, it just looks different."
"But now I don't know it works."
"It still works the same, it just looks different."
"Where's my start menu?"
"The exact same place it was before, it's just square instead of round."
"Okay clicking on it... OH LORDY LORDY MERCY ME THIS ALL LOOKS SO DIFFERENT!"
*Repeat for every single step of every single process of every single task, repeated for every single users.*
"Yes I know. Your PC was upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10."
"But it looks all different!"
"Well.. yes. It's a new OS. All your files, folders, and programs are still there."
"BUT IT LOOKS DIFFERENT!"
"Yes... I know... it's... a.... new... operating... system. It still works the same, it just looks different."
"But now I don't know it works."
"It still works the same, it just looks different."
"Where's my start menu?"
"The exact same place it was before, it's just square instead of round."
"Okay clicking on it... OH LORDY LORDY MERCY ME THIS ALL LOOKS SO DIFFERENT!"
*Repeat for every single step of every single process of every single task, repeated for every single users.*
Hellbound
Merchant of Doom
Wait...your post looks different!
I just know if I get called to a troublecall and the users has a picture/figure of a Minion anywhere on their desk that's it, I'm not getting anything else done for a while, I'm in for a lot of handholding.
Mimi has replaced her troll dolls?
quadraginta
Becoming Beth
This is the genesis of many "This new version of [insert name of OS, program, etc. here] really sucks." complaints.
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