pedro wrote:
> Franck Martin wrote:
>
> >
> > Also on the same subject, Linux is free so the money is somewhere else, in
> > service or... in hardware...
>
> Linux is not exactly free. It is an exchange market. Yes, there are lots
> of people that get it for nothing. They download an iso image and play
> with it. However a growing number of people go further than this. They
> exchange information on settings, bugs, software and other stuff. And
> this group is growing.
>
> Frankly this sounds as building a pyramid. Is that so. Well a pyramid is
> something that first gives too much and then breaks up because resources
> fail to fulfill demand. Linux has been here for nearly ten years and it
> is still growing and growing further in complexity and availability. No,
> Linux is no pyramid. It is that same Bazar Eric talks about. But a much
> more complex Bazar. It is more a barter market.
>
> Some see a danger here. Exchanging software this way does not give too
> much for some people who may be in the bottom of the infrastructure. But
> tell me. Is Torvalds begging in US streets? Is Alan sleeping in London's
> gardens? I don't see it. Personally i see this exchange market as a
> bigger chance for my own revenues. Because whatever you do with Linux,
> you must have final objectives. The output a company waits from
> computing systems is what gives the real revenue to them. And it is the
> place you must ask for your piece in the pie. It is your dividend on the
> huge investment you do by participating on all this Bazar.
>
> Really i think that people think it would be better to get paid for what
> they write. Well if I charged a dollar for the hours I pass digging in
> code, debugging and testing then would have had an envious salary. But
> the fact is that thing does not happen. Such system was placed by
> Microsoft and what we got? Pay $400 here, pay $200 there, pay another
> $250 and 6 monthes later, "oh sorry we did it again, changed the SDK to
> ease developers life". In result you are doing everything less
> development.
>
> Today I get NOTHING for writing or debugging. But for final
> implementations, service support, tunings, administration, supervision I
> already have a revenue of more than 5 times what I had 4 years ago. And
> I can sleep peacufully because I know that my pocket does not go
> negative in the end of the month and I see a future in my work. 4 years
> ago I was already testing other works because I knew that developers,
> under Microsoft's rules, would have only a place in the Musee De L'Homme.
>
> >
> > Why not selling a Mandrake PC ? Do not wait for IBM, HP, Compaq to sell a
> > Linux PC in supermarkets... Do it yourself. Buy a small PC brand and sell
> > the PC with Mandrake on it... A PC for the masses (as Mandrake is the Linux
>
> Why just a PC? Hey go further than Microsoft. Offer solutions. People
> want their problems solved. And here we have the right place to ask
> people to pay real money.
>
> >
> > for the masses), nothing fancy, but something tightly integrated with a
> > design box (like Qube or Mac)...
>
> No! No! No! Not Mac. Mac is a mistake. A huge mistake. The same one
> Microsoft is trying to repeat. you should not guess what someone wants.
> You should know what he really wants. if you do this then that guy is
> your customer. And surely he will think twice before changing to anyone
> else. You should give an environment (Linux, hardware) and schemes on
> how to fit this things to customers necessities. It is a hard and
> complex work but that is the golden place. But never offer a blue box
> with "everything you need is here". 80% of users, sooner or later will
> kick your box.
>
> >
> > Cheers...
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> >
> >
> >
> Ektanoor
I totally agree with all you say... I was just offering a different perspective
for Mandrake to make some money... As for Mac, I don't care what is inside the
box, I just say what they did in term of design has revolutionised the way
people make computers (fancy boxes, fancy colors, etc...). It is like a
customised car. Of course the engine must be good...
Cheers.
