Hi
On 2006-11-15, at 18:45 , Kaj Kandler wrote:
snip
The very same is true for businesses in other countries. $100/yr does
sound not too much for a US or Belgian business. However in Brazil it
sounds quite a bit of money and in most places in Africa it mushrooms
into a small fortune, when you add all the charges to it that are
necessary to pay any money in USD. I think this is not so clear cut.
Sigh.... -) You assume we are inflexible :-) Really, we are not, and
we've been doing this now for a rather long time and have been
debating this and related issues for the last 6 years. :-)
As mentioned in my response to another post, exceptions will exist
and will be taken exceptionally. We are not computer programs :-)
I also can see that someone might offer support and not charge for it,
such as retired professionals consulting for not for profit
organizations or schools. Would they also spend money to be listed in
the "official" OOo list?
I also don't think it is in OOo's best interest to charge for a
listing.
OO's best interest is to have as many consultants listed that do exist
and do really make a good job in OOo marketing in their own self
interest. If they are successful, then OOo is successful and OOo
can ask
them for donations and will have sponsors for their conferences.
Last but not least I'm scared by the logistics of the money trail with
all issues attached.
Just my five cents to the topic.
The logistics are the real issue, which is why I would prefer wikis
and the honour system. I see no compelling reason for policing lists
like this excessively. Or, we can accept Adam's point and continue
with the website, which allows for more control and checking. My
interest is in reducing management, reducing spurious listings, and
in bringing in small revenue, so as to make OOo more sustainable.
And if this doesn't work, we stop it. As mentioned, we, or at least
I, am not inflexible. Right now, though, the consultants page is not
working at all-- no one goes there, it's a pain to maintain, and we
throw away our promises with our business.
A paid-for page, however, would be placed in a more prominent place
and would ultimately include more things.
I had not really intended in embarking on this discussion at this
point, but why not? For starters, see my presentation at OOoCon:
http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2006/presentations/tuesday_c7.pdf
Kaj
Ciao
Louis
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