I keep Gaim running on my laptop. Gaim is an instant messanger client that speaks multiple IM protocols, such as AIM/ICQ, YM, Jabber, and IRC.

The IRC protocol defines an error code, "422", which the server sends the client on login whenever the server doesn't have a "Message of the Day" file. Having Gaim pop up a warning dialog every time it starts or reconnects, just because an IRC server operator forget to create a file, got to be very annoying.

After complaining on the gaim-dev mailing list, I decided to invoke the open source guarantee ("if it's broken, you can fix it"). I pulled down the latest CVS sources, rebuilt Gaim, then found the IRC protocol module, and put in code to catch and ignore the 422 error. It worked great.

I've submitted the patch back to the Gaim SourceForge project page and also directly to the maintainer. Hopefully it will be incorporated.

Total turnaround? Less than half an hour. I've spent that long sitting ON HOLD on a CSR line to report a bug and ask for a fix, on a product with a five digit purchase price and a 24/7 "gold" support contract.

Current Music: http://stations.mp3s.com/stations/4/a_m_b_i_e_n_c_e_2.html