Dear John,

I would like to say, goodbye Cisco.

The reason why is, I have a very affordable alternative to Cisco products, they are very scalable, as well easy to manage and secure.

Running a cheap router using a very simply built x86 hardware, is something phenomenal, I cannot say how it feels when you see BGP converges 3 times faster using a very cheap hardware and free software.

Regards,

Dear John,

You have made me pennyless and sad. No more!

I have a new beau, and this one doesn't make me fork over so much dough, so see you around.

Dear John,

Because 24/7 support doesn't do anything for me when I need to offer a 99.99% uptime for my company.  I just keep a second box, fully configured and updated running alongside to automatically take over should the first die.

Should Cisco ever want to mature into a real company, make it open source and I'll come and write some software for you.

Dear John,

I'm sure this is no suprise to you that I have grown to hate you more than anyone in my life. You are a usless person and you suck as a friend and as a lover. I have never dated someone so selfish in my life. You never really got to know me because you were so wrapped up in yourself and what pleased you. You're ritualistic habbits drove me crazy, blowing your big nose first thing every morning,and drinking a pot of coffee before 6am. Your big baled head full of flakes,grossed me out and you thought you where so cute. You have a small uneducated mind and no class at all. Get lost looser.

Dear John,

thanks for being the stable boat in my life all these while. Thanks for being there all these years, serving packets after packets, frames after frames relentlessly.

But... truth hurts sometimes and I have to be honest, even with all the bountiful supply of instructions out there... gosh... its just so hard to find what I need to do.

It seems like a certification is needed to steer this stable boat of yours.. without it.. even simple steering cannot be done at times...

but light is always at the end of the tunnel and John my friend, you're not at the end of the tunnel waiting for me; Vyatta is. "Don't rock the boat" if nothing is wrong was the saying. But I have to, for a better, simpler yet more efficient boat is out there waiting for me. Vyatta is there, with her simple twin engine as compared to your nuclear fision engine. BUt truth is.. I just need that twin engine, to help me steer the rough water and tight corners.

John, yours can't without the risk of explosion and I'm sorry, but its time to call time on this relationship, to rock the boat.

Bye John.
Hello Vyatta!

Dear John,

I am sorry I can not keep up this pretense any longer and need to come clean and admit to you that I have been seeing someone else on the side.

It started off as a casual affair, but the more time we spent together getting to know one another, the more I was convinced that it would be a long lasting stable relationship. The experiences we have had thus far were mutually beneficial and free of the awful fighting you and I used to have trying to see eye to eye and always at my expense.

Regards

Vyoila

Dear John,

Let's face it - your too fat for me.  There was a time that you were lean and responsive, and could keep up with our active lifestyle.  But now you just sit there, all bloated and odorous, and wheeze when I ask you join in. Your suit doesn't fit anymore, in fact the colors don't even match - and why do you keep wearing that stupid hat!  Have you seen yourself lately - part desktop, part CE, part network, part application server - this is not what I want out of a relationship.

So goodbye tubby!

PS. I had an affair with Quagga and Xorp while you were in India...they were great.

Dear John,

Router>show run

Yes, it's been fun run, but I have to go now.
It turns out I really do need the security, and the lower costs associated with an open source network.

I'm sorry, I know it's me, not you--I've just changed, and I have to move on.

In any event, I know change is hard, esp. with all the marketing hype you've paid for--well OK we, your customers, paid for.

And I don't expect to see you at an Open Source/Linux conference anytime soon.
But, you are always welcome.
We can talk of all the good times we use to have.
I know there must be one we can talk about--I just can't think of it right now.

Router>erase start
Router>erase flash
Router>reboot cisco org chart

Dear John,

You see, the thing is this, I've  been thinking, I want to be in a relationship that is financially balanced. I want to be with someone I can trust, someone that discloses their innermost secrets with me openly and without having to ask. I want the confidence in knowing that when I spend time on the phone with someone, I am the most important person to them at that moment, and when we are off the phone my problems are at the forefront.

I have met someone new, I am as special to them as they are to me, And I know I can rely on them just as much without financial commitment as when I do spend money with them.

Dear John,
We're exact opposites. You have always wanted to blend in as many features as possible, to be perfect for everybody. I have always wanted to stick with the core solutions that are important to me. What's funny is, it took me so long to realize that we're so different. I want to decide what's right for me and my network and you want to charge me out the wazoo for every feature under the sun.

It has been a devastating blow to realize how much I could have saved over the years using open source networking solutions from Vyatta. And even worse, to come to the realization that you've managed to collect thousands from me in support, upgrades and your fancy "specialized hardware" over the years when I could have been doing the same thing with standard x86 servers. If somewhere during the course of our relationship, you confused my re-orders for loyalty and my component upgrades for love.... YOU WERE WRONG!

Dear John,

By the time you read this, I'll be gone. I'm sorry for doing this but, it's for the best. I know this might comes as a bit of a surprise to you - especially because I've purchased so much of your hardware over the years. But I'm sorry ...I just need freedom. I think you're swell, but I don't think we're right for each other. First of all, we're not compatible. You keep your source-code locked up tight, and I feel left out. Anyway, I am going to use Vyatta open-source networking products for my router, firewall and VPN needs from now on. But you know what? I still want to be friends. After all, we haven't auctioned all of your equipment on Ebay yet.

Take care of yourself - and good luck.

P.S. I cheated on my CCIE

Dear John,

I'm not afraid of getting hurt, but I can't respect myself for staying around to be your quarterly relief valve. It's taken so long for me to finally admit it to myself... I keep thinking we share the same goals, but every time I turn around you abuse my budget. And it hurts, John.

You kept forcing your "upgrades" on me whenever you felt like it. And if I tried to resist, you'd simply refuse to support me any more. That's not a preferred relationship, John... you simply used me, dominated me. It was always about you, you, you. You never thought once about me.

My needs were so simple, John. I needed you to service me well, when I needed it. That's what's great about Vyatta; they rise to the occasion when I need them, and don't keep pounding me at the end of every quarter.

I've finally found balance in my life with Vyatta. Being free from an unnecessary tyranny is so liberating! I guess that's ultimately what it's all about, John: Freedom to do what I want to do, when I want to do it. From this point forward, it's all about me.

Sincerely,
Facing Forward

PS: You left a box of PO's in my room; I burned them.

Dear John,

Cisco Engineer means study all the time
Vyatta Engineer means never lose your mind
All we want is simple
A network that just works
No complex commands
No salesmen in pressed shirts

Vyatta came along
And sang a new love song
A Google kind of tune
That means its STOCK grows strong

Cisco you own wireless
 Vyatta, just might steal?
That market with a product
That's wireless for real

It routes and switches wireless
And makes Aruba smart
It PIX apart your commands
Shows run before it starts
It slices, dices mixes and makes our networks clean
It knack is not a box but something in between

Vyatta Partner Network
A VPN affair
Cisco and Dear John
I know you dear to care
Your customers are priceless
And price makes Dear John rich
Vyatta's saw that problem
Hence reasons why to switch

Dear John,

I don't have any major issues with the quality of what you do, but what I object to is you guys not telling "Joe Public" how your technology works.

I object to paying someone £650 a day to make a switch work because your instructions suck and your website is near enough useless.

We have an Ironport, and I was quite upset when you bought that company because I feel what was a great open standards organisation will overnight become very closed source and closed standards!  Pah!

Carl

Dear John,

I started with Wellfleet, and moved to Cisco.  I remember the days, and nights hunched over the terminal screen, green glow lighting my face in the dark recesses of the wiring closet, diligently pounding out new configurations for network translation... working with FDDI, Arcnet, Token-Ring, Thicknet, IPX and IP, ATM...

The router then took off, Cisco became a household name, stocks rocketed, the 2500 series ruled the datacenters, remote sites, and even some in homes... All IT Support was judged against Cisco Support.  Those were the days...

Then something happened... Cisco began building more "stuff" onto the router, and prices changed dramatically... Cisco began the march to be the next Microsoft... Bloat filled the network... and I have no time for either any more... so...
Farewell...

Dear John,

I bet your all having a good laf over this bunch of pimply faced subs who know jack sh** about telcoms and networking.

oh BTW MIDI is not a layer 5 protocol you might want to have a word with the cisco academy people about that :-)

Kwa John,
Habari ya masiku bwana John.

Nasikitika kukufahamisha kwamba nimeacha kutumia vipa njia (routers) vyako kuanzia hii leo.
Sababu ya hii ni kwamba nime gundua chombo timilifu cha Vyatta kinacho nipa manufaa mara dufu pita Cisco.

Bei yake pia ni nyororo mfukoni na nina uwezo wa kufumua muundo wake (opensource) kindani zaidi kushinda hio Cisco yako.

Udhalimu na unyonyaji wa makampuni makubwa makubwa kama yako ndio ina tusukuma sisi akina yahe kutumia na kugundua njia tofauti za kufanya mambo.  nikome!

Kwaheri ya kuonana

Querido John Ch,he usado Cisco desde hace mas de 12 anios, cuando practicamente nadie en mi pais conocia la marca, pero ya me canse de tener que pagar los IOS cada vez que deseo solucionar un problema, y seguir con la burda interface de linea de comandos, he vendido bastantes elementos Cisco desde enrutadores hasta conmutadores, pasando por redes Wireless y VoIP, tengo varios elementos Cisco en mi oficina que los uso como pisapapeles (telefonos cisco 7960,ATA 186, switch 3524, router 2501, router 1601, y un PIX 506), todo lo estoy reemplazando con Vyatta y Asterisk, porque? sencillamente porque funciona mejor que tus elementos.

Otro hecho que me animo a realizarlo fue que en mi pais esta gobernando un presidente que parece hijo de una mezcla entre  Fidel Castro, Will Gates y Ud(John Ch), dice ser socialista y apoya el FOSS pero usa Windows XP y no se sabe ni la cancion de Hasta Siempre Comandante Che Guevara;  dice que tiene una visin clara del futuro (como Will Gates) y no se comprende ni con su hermana; y dice que cambiar el destino de nuestro pas (como John Ch con su telpresence) pero no migra ni la computadora de su secretaria; por todas esas razones he decidido migrar hacia la libertad, hacia Vyatta y Asterisk, porque solamente la libertad  de conocimiento nos librar de la ignorancia del Companierito Rafael Belt.

Victor Hugo
Santo Domingo de los Colorados
Provincia Tsachila

Dear John,

   Remember when you were young, flexible and listened to me with rapt attention? We did lots of new things together and celebrated with beer and cookies. The world was moving fast and we were on a great ride. We were Networkers and we took on the world at great parties with lots of dancing and silly hats.

   We're both older now and I find myself trapped on a ride that has stopped. We do what you want when you say you want to do it. You don't listen and when you do what I want it's too little and years too late. And the parties are stuffy, the hats are boring an we stay home to watch others dancing on TV.

   So, I'm moving on for both of us. I know it's not normal and embarrassing to separate after all these years. I know your friends will talk, so try to ignore them. It's just for the best.

   Maybe we'll connect someday and you'll understand why I left. I'll be the one at the party dancing on the table with the Vyatta hat.

Dear John,

I have sailed the seas. I did that for 10 years. I loved the smell of the salt, then you came by. I was young but hungry, I was naive and foolish.

Then came that big Kondratieff wave we call virtualization and I was looking for that proverbial kon-tiki boat, I search the earth and I wandered. I was betrayed by your love, I felt lost and I felt tied.

I wanted to break free and there came my Kon-Tiki, Vyatta! A breath of fresh air. I felt young, I felt lighter, I truly was in love.

Thanks to you, I knew what real love is. Its time to move on, its time to sail again, but you aren't that boat. Sorry!

Tarry Singh
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Aum Shanti Aum