>> <sigh> No. That's *not* what I'm saying. Maybe I need to differentiate >> more: Mandrake makes one Linux distro, but many products. I've tested >> the distro, as packed in the product "9.1 download edition". I liked >> what I saw. It's a good distro. So I want to use it. At the same time, >> I *do* agree to "fair price for a fair product", so I'm quite willing >> to buy the product "standard edition" to get the distro. However, then >> Mandrake announced their stance with regard to third-party advertising >> in their products. What they announced (forcing third-party ads on >> paying customers) is a business practice I do *not* like, no matter >> from whom. Hence, I do *not* like the product anymore, even though I >> do like the distro, cause I do *not* want to support that type of >> business practice. >> That leaves only the product "download edition" if I do want the >> distro, which is a pity. > >This makes sense. I don't agree but it makes sense as a reasoning. >All you wrote before was a bit distorted compared to this. Or maybe I'm >just a simple guy who understands simple reasoning.... > >wobo >
my one and only .02 worth... advertising (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th... party) is a fact of life. you see it in tv, on dvd's, in every form of print, in the movie theatre, on billboards, hear it on radio - even those subscription or single-purchase formats (dvd's again, newspapers, magazines, rentals). every website you see has advertising, even the subscription ones. linuxtoday.com, linux journal, slashdot.org, the list goes on ad infinitum... what makes mandrake or any other open source software product any more "pure" and less deserving of additional revenue than any of these other products we all use daily? we may not like that these companies "force" advertising on us yet how many times do we decide to refuse their offerings simply because they've surrendered to the "dark side"? ads during installation? big deal, it's gone in a matter of a couple of hours if you do a detailed installation, and most of that time is (possibly selecting and) actually loading files which most of us don't watch closely anyway. personaly i believe this person has chosen a myopic point of view for assigning to a single product a single attribute that is common to the vast majority of products while ignoring that same attribute in every other product he/she uses, but that is this person's right and i wish them well whatever path they choose regarding this. i don't like the fact mandrake is going to include advertising in their product but i fully understand their need to do so and accept it as a part of the future of mandrake. when that decision is pushed to the point of becoming unacceptable i will look elsewhere. i also use only the free download versions (though i have purchased packaged releases before); since i don't contribute i don't complain. a last consideration - there has been much offense and defense regarding this person's expression of his opinions. the ability to have an opinion and the ability to express it such that others can fully grasp those opinion's meanings are not always given out in equal measure. what i know i am not always able to express such that others fully understand what i mean to share; that doesn't mean i enjoy (or should even have to suffer) being attacked for not being able to express myself clearly.
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
