Well, its called "franchise internet services"... Someone with no clue can now open up an ISP and made 5% of
the profit, and do all the work. And some people actually think they are going to make real money with it.
Now, I haven't seen any high-end networking products being sold on QVC yet (like I actually turn on my TV or
something).
Some of us are up to our necks making our systems better. Yesterday I went out and bought new CPUs for all my
486 servers (jumped them to 5x86/160s), which ran me about $300 for 6 systems, and about 6 hours of tweaking
the NT systems to peak performace on these processors. I could have put that money into getting some
programmer to write a no-multiple-accounts stuff, and probibly screw someting up on purpose or on accident and
put a security hole bigger than my belt-buckle in it.
If it were all just EEs and high-end programmers that were ISPs, there wouldn't be internet access anywhere
outside of major cities. The profit level out in the sticks isn't as high, and where I may be happy with
$30,000 year (or hell at this point for me, no profit), that programmer is used to making $100+k per year, and
they aren't about to give that up and move out of there.
So, back up and think about what you are saying. We need to quit quarreling amongst ourselves and look at the
big picture.... We all want features added to the Portmaster, and we all have the threat of the elimination of
the small ISP.
Hell, I want the portmaster to come with a 21" monitor, and play Duke Nukem 3D at 800x600 resolution full
screen and full motion, for the same price, but it AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN..
So, there
JS