Question Regarding Ethics (Somewhat long)

This may seem petty, but its something that has been bothering me. About a year ago, i built a computer for a friend of my father’s, and installed it on his network. It worked fine whilst i was there, but the same day, i got a call saying it wouldn’t work. I then took it over to my house for an extended revamping to fix the problem, which turned out to be a rather malicious virus, and I have had it since. This gentlemen, who is rather well to do, decided he was impatient and bought a new computer from Dell. Meanwhile, i have this computer up and running and working great. He invested in all the parts, and i supplied all the labor, etc.

The problem lies in the fact that I have a PC sitting here that he no longer wants. I had the need for my own pc, as I am starting college, so I asked him how much I could purchase it for. And we are talking about a stacked machine… 50Gb, AMD Athlon XP 2200, 512 MB Ram, etc. He responded a week later and said that i could have it, in return for “computer troubleshooting and counseling services from time to time for no charge”.

This would be cool, and I would gladly accept, but i know he has warranties he has paid for on his current computers, not to mention the meager services i could provide wouldn’t ever equal the worth of the PC.

Although i really would like a pc, at the same time i am hesitant in taking him up on his offer, simply because i feel that i owe him more than he wants. He is also a leader in a church organization that I am active in, and I work with him on a regular basis in that capacity.

Thoughts, anyone?

He made the offer, and can afford it. If having you around to consult makes him happy, I don’t see the problem.

You already put in quite a bit of time on the machine, so as long as you’re willing to put in some more when he asks, Je’s getting his money’s worth. If you feel the need, you could offer him some training on whatever he needs (OS, apps, …).

Methinks he’s thinly disguising that as a gift for an aspiring college student. Accept his terms and he’ll probably never call you on it save to install the odd bit of software for him sometime.