ISP's

[Bill Honeycutt]

Ross Boylan wrote:
> I'm probably going to go with a cheap dial-up, but I'm also
> considering SBC/Yahoo DSL.  Does the latter work with Linux?

A few anecdotal reasons to think twice before using SBC/Yahoo:

1.) You need to lie and say you're using Windows/Mac or they go into a 
catatonic state on the other end of the support line.

2.) They hired a mass marketer (Digital Impact) to send what I consider 
to be "borderline spam", pushing services and upgrades to all SBC/Yahoo 
users.  There is no easy way to opt out of having them "share" your 
email address with every lowlife partner in the SBC universe (please 
send an URL if you know where to opt out).

3.) After taking them up on a 2Wire firewall appliance offer, it broke. 
  It took 5 weeks and 12+ hours on the phone (voice menu system-> 
Bangalore/Manila/Iowa -> 1st tier Arizona 2Wire support -> 2nd tier 
support) to get a replacement.  Add a week for 2Wire's warranty system 
crashing, then they shipped the replacement device Fedex to a 
nonexistent name and address!?  Took another 10 days to get it delivered.

4.) Lot's of hackers and spammers looking for open relays, etc., in your 
domain.  Keep the draw bridge up and the moat filled.

5.) Even then, spam finds you due to directory harvest attacks (make 
your login name something like "hZch4haKju2X" instead of "rossb" and it 
will be more difficult to harvest).