Simultaneous Logins

Gene James (jamesce@westol.com)
Mon, 3 Mar 1997 14:01:11 -0500 (EST)

On Sun, 2 Mar 1997 owner-portmaster-radius-digest@livingston.com wrote:
>
> From: MegaZone <megazone@livingston.com>
> Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 18:19:06 -0800 (PST)
> Subject: Re: Simultaneous Logins (fwd)
>
> Once upon a time Livingston Portmaster shaped the electrons to say...
> >Point me to one. Do not suggest to cry in mailing list. Do you have
> >some on ftp.livingston.com?
>
> No we don't, and I don't bother tracking the myriad of scripts users create.
>
> You either ask in the portmaster-users list or go without.
>
> Or setup your billing to bill the people abusing the service for the
> services they are using - which is the only solution I'll advocate.
>
> I don't believe in any of the 'scripting' or 'RADIUS' so-called solutions
> out there and won't help with them.
>
> - -MZ
> - --

Dear MZ (Brian, isn't it?),

I've been a happy PM user for 2 years. We've solved all our own problems
and only needed support once for 7 PMs. I read this list regularly and I
sympathize with Livingston's needing to hand-hold lots of newbies, but...

I tire of your repeated disdain for the very frequent requests for a
multiple-login solution. The attitude evidenced in the above post
crosses the line and borders on rude.

The energy you expend rejecting the requests probably has far exceeded
that required to solve the problem. I have, at length, concluded that a
reasonable solution is not that hard and can be made reasonably reliable
by being conservative. "Reasonable" is the key here, your myriad
"what-ifs" not withstanding.

As I read the list, it appears that ISPs are a significant revenue stream
for Livingston. You and I both know that your business depends on solving
problems. Clearly ISPs are begging you to solve this problem. Quit
telling them how to run their business and do it.

Similarly, Livingston should be dealing with "ping-o-death" and
IP-spoofing vulnerabilities. Did I understand that ComOS has no filter
that restricts packets to the assigned IP? Is that really hard?

Sincerely,
Gene James
Westmoreland Online, Inc.