I have been on this list for about 2 weeks, just observing the
discussions. I have primarily worked with wireless service
providers in
the past who are fairly low budget operators. Some of the
things I've
observed about this group are:
* This list seems to be populated by better funded operations
(whether
that means larger or just better at getting funding may remain
to be
seen)
* Most of the operators on this list seem to be pretty good at
their
work and the questions seem to revolve around more complex
issues
* There seems to be a number of corporate network operators on
this list
as opposed to access network operators (such as ISPs and such)
I hope you all don't take this as an affront and get offended,
as that's
not my intent. I am just making some simple observations.
Having said this, I wanted to introduce myself and see if this
is a list
that I need to participate in actively. I am a network engineer
and
consultant. I have worked in the past with Cisco, Juniper and
other
similar "higher end" type devices, but it's been a while since I
had
customers who use that gear. Most of my current customer base
are
smaller operators who can pinch a penny in half. 
I do a lot of work with MikroTik RouterOS, ImageStream and other
Linux
based devices. I do engineering, training, hardware sales and
such for
networks all over the world. I am likely to continue to monitor
the
list for questions that are in my area of expertise, but
wondered if
these devices I mention are "common" to operators on this list.
I know
that I have not caught a discussion that involved any of them so
far
(other than one reference to an OpenBSD solution a day or two
ago).
Anyway, hello to the list and I look forward to finding a home
among
this group.
Thanks. Your observations are good related to active posters. The
overall list is very diverse. Aside from the active posters, the list
is about 10K strong. Everything from AOL to people from Zoos, law
enforcement, banks, and any industry you can think of. NANOG is not
just a list, but an interesting hodge podge of builders and occupants
of the Internet that sometimes make sense.
As Paul Wall might say, Drive Slow.
Best,
Marty
But Butch be da dude.
Only half a penny?! Butch, I can cut that penny at least into eighths!
Sheeesh!
Bob-