bad customers and court cases - summary

Fri Jan 31 03:37:32 PST 2003

hi all

thanx to those that replied ...  but...
	- question still stands... though i/we know the answer
	( how long does it take you to log into a box that you're sitting
	( in front of... and have permission to change its root passwd

	- the joke/annoyance is it took them 3 days and 3 PhDs and
	lots of emails back-n-forth ... xx telling yy what to do whom
  	in turn tells zzz what to do... and backup that "it didnt work"
		( they didnt understand the answers -- oh well ..

= my stance ( in normal mode of working environment ) ..
	- if they/you need to ask me for the root passwd, than i say
	you dont need it..  they/you should know how to get root
	access properly and do all the proper documentation/followups 
	( esp since it's gonna trigger lots of my host/network IDS's )

--------

> If I wanted to get access to a box (Linux or whatever), and I had physical
> access to the box, and I had available a box running something sufficiently
> similar (but over which I had complete control), I would:
> 
> * Power off the "target" box.
> * Disconnect the drive(s) in question.

not necessary to take those precautions ... 

----------

me> anyway .. they didnt pay their invoices..
me>       so i filed suit... and the fun starts

> Did you have written documentation of what they expected you to do, and
> what the completion criteria were?

- its ongoing .. over a year.... and always changing ... "typical admin
  duties"

> Did you provide them with password? (not how to change them, but with
> the passwords?), and was that specified in your written scope of work?

- they said change it... on my last day.. so i did...
	- i do NOT write down(save) passwd so i dont know what it was/is

	- 2-4 days after my last day, they figured out they dont know
	how to log into the box... thus the fun starts

> *blink* I think that I'm missing something here. Am I correct in reading
> that you want professional sysadmins to send you documented evidence of
> being able to easily hack into a linux box for entry into the court
> record?

- think most of us, can log into a linux/*nix and even windoze boxes
  in a matter of minutes ...
	- and i wanted a list of tom/dick/harry/sally/mary/jane 
	to give to the court ... ( just first name )
	that it wont take 3 dayz and 3 PnD and and tons of "email support
	traffic"  after the their termination of the contract ( 2 week
	warning ... no exit interview etc )

	- but 2 months after the last day.. stil no check.. and they
	refusing to pay .. just to wiggle out of it.. and since they dont
	need any mroe help.. gues they figure why not ... and came up
	with a dozen ridiculous comments/statements the i'll be 
	presenting to the court... including 3 days for PhDs to get
	into the linux boxes

> If you're doing consulting work, you desperately need a written scope of
> work that both parties have signed off on, with completion criteria.
> That way, there's no ambiguity about whether the job has actually been
> performed as desired.

-- daily emails of what was sked to be done... what was done...
	and what's pending and/or action items ..

	- no complaints till AFTER end of contracts
	- no complaints for the duration of the 2 months of the contracts
	  that they have NOT paid their bills
		- just a cheezy cfo that wanna save a nickel

jim>  LILO: type <stanza label> init=/bin/sh rw
jim>  mount /usr # ignore errors if /usr not sep. fs
jim>  passwd
jim>  <type new passwd>
jim>  <type new passwd again>
jim>  sync
jim>  umount /usr # ignore error
jim>  mount -o remount,ro /
jim>  exec /sbin/init 6

we're assuming they know how to get into single user mode.... at lilo
prompt ... that is probably the screwup ....
	- in redhat... once in single user... 
	just use passwd  .. <type new passwd> .. <veriy it>
	reboot ...
		- reboot is "hit control-alt-delete"  
		( they are windoze winnies.. so they can do that 
		( w/o too much trouble

	- lot simpler ... 

jim> Can you tell I've been doing exactly this kind of support blindly
jim> for lots of people all over the world for about six years?

ditto... and its fun when they know what to do ... after giving um the 
hints and do this/that... ( for more info ...
google/yahoo/excite/alltheweb it  etc.. )

bill> But for the most part, I find I have to agree with your analysis.
bill> If Alvin met a set of *written* objectives and didn't get paid, then
bill> I hope he wins.  But I get the impression that is not the case, and
bill> he's likely to be laughed out of court if not countersued.  But
bill> IANAL.

i hope they dont bother to show up .. :-)  win by default..
and make it easy...
	- paperwork is hopefully been served properly...
	( finding good/reasonalbe/knowledgeable process servers is 
	( no trivial matter either

-- one of my points will be..
	- bring me any unix box... and i'll be in that box within
	a minute ... after its ready for lilo prompting ...
 	or boot> for sun.. etc.etc..

	- and that all that occurred AFTER the last day of contract
	so it too should be billed .... in addition to prev unpaid
	invoices

well d-day is coming up soon ... so its time to prepare and rehearse
the points i'll be making in court...

time to generate paperwork and documents.... in a reasonable form
for the court to see/read/understand...
	more explantory that this outline/email stuff i type.. :-)

have fun
alvin