On Sat, 2003-09-13 at 06:56, T. Ribbrock wrote: > On Fri, Sep 12, 2003 at 07:49:30AM -0700, Rolf Pedersen wrote: > > > > Do you even use Mandrake? > > Yup, I have 9.1 on one of my machines. Welcome to the world of GNU-Linux then, and welcome to this list.
> That's why I considered buying > 9.2. MDK lost that sale. did you _buy_ that 9.1? as in does your voice really have something backing it up? > > > A product does not materialize out of thin > > air: it takes money for the people who produce it to live, no? What > > other products are you able to consume without recompense until you > > decide it comes up to your standards sufficiently to pay for it? > > Reality check: That's called "free market". Reality Check ... there has been a US court ruling that found a monopoly in the Operation Systems Software for computers. Monopoly != 'free market' and as most any MBA candidate would gladly inform you, 'free market' is an oxymoron. > If the product on offer > doesn't suit my needs/interests/whatever, I don't buy it. Simple 101 of > marketing. That only gets me into trouble if there's no alternative - > which is not the case here. Just speaking in vast and vague generalities here... you say "That only gets me into trouble if" which seems to say there is only one way that you can get into trouble in 'free market', and that is just not a correct statement. (as in "NO... you are wrong") well there 'could' be trouble _not_ due to a lack of alternatives, but lack of education about the alternatives. that is the 'why' of sales and advertising. I have often heard it said that no sale is made unless the customer ha a clearly defined need for that good or service. > > Some must pay for what many take for free, be it advertisers or Club > > members. I wonder what percentage of the complainers about the ads > > actually support Mandrake with cash versus the percentage who complain > > merely because they would rather take without being reminded of the > > obligation. > > That's exactly my point: MDK has taken away the obligation by making > money of the download edition (nothing wrong with that) *and* making > extra money besides the purchase price of the boxed version. Hence, my > motivation to buy the boxed version is gone. well here is my point exactly... no education about the difference between what you can download in the 3 ISO disk GPL version, and what you get when you buy a commercial package (the power-pack or Pro-Suite) > Or, to put into other > words: If MDK feels the need of forcing ads on paying customers, I > have no interest in supporting them anymore. did you support them before? did you not notice the 'info' provided on screens as you installed? did you not notice a link (and a text box) on the default web page for Safari book sellers? did that ruin the 9.1 experience for you? did you think to complain then? > I do feel that I put my point poorly yesterday. I'm actually > frustrated. I'm a long time RH user (since 4.1, i.e. 1996/97) and in > that time, there still was "spirit" in them. By now, I never went > beyond RH 7.3, as I don't like current developments, so I went looking > for alternatives. MDK seemed interesting, not only because of a good > product, but also because of the setup (Club etc., though most likely > I won't need it). so then from my reading of your reply, in spite of having been a RH user since the beginning of linux time, unless _you_ 'need' it, it is not worth supporting at all, and if it is cheaper to download you don't _need_ to buy it. Let me ask you, when you get a meal at a restaurant, do you tip the service help? OR do you only pay for those things that someone will grab you and force you to pay for? OR do you believe that one should pay a fair amount for a fair product? > On the other hand, I don't go round spending money > to "support" companies without observing what's going on for a while. This statement sounds to me like "I don't pay unless I have to, and after I find a good product I might be willing to pay for without the police forcing me to pay, I wait until I find some (imo) reason to not pay. don't pay to support the company, pay because you got a product worth paying for, even if you were not forced to pay for it. Disclaimer... I do not work for Mandrakesoft, I am a customer. > Pity, that MDK spoiled it right away with their announcement. > > Cheerio, > > Thomas I guess they will have to find someone else that will freeload in your place,,, I here there are plenty of freeloaders,,, but it was customers MDK was trying to find, or so I heard.... -- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mandrake HowTo's & More: http://twiki.mdklinuxfaq.org
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