Wednesday, May 16, 2007

This is part of an email by Vadim Antonov on an emailing list to discuss computer networking related issues:

(BTW, one of the most popular little toys I made was a thingie which did domain name-based e-mail routing over UUCP - not by tracking global topology maps a la pathalias, but by insertion of the next hop lookup step at every transit point. No more stuck e-mail trying to get along a precomputed path which has one hop down. That thingie was a smash hit in the place where phone lines used to be so notoriously flaky that every rain caused a singificant portion of them to get so bad that modems couldn't connect.)

Notice that he is referring to a long back time and the fact that we still have that problem in Pakistan every so often, whether or not it rains. Modems fail to connect. So, what have our elders, incharge of PTCL, for instance, for so many decades been doing? Why is that despite posting revenues, despite overcharging us consumers and trunk connection customers, they were unable to deploy a useful POTS?

The mentality of a government employee, ingrained deep in the brain is how to use facilities, how to use the rules and regulations to their benefit and against the poor person on the other side of the window. If and when they are held accountable, they are suspended from duty, with full pay, and asked to do nothing all day, but sit at a certain place in the office while the inquiry is conducted. At the end, they are patted on the back and returned to active duty at the same or different place. Wouldnt that person be encouraged to continue?

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