Like you, I only just picked up on this thread. However, playing devil's advocate here, I'd say that RH figures they have enough market penetration and recognition to drop the costly retail sector. However, 2 things spring to mind, RH built their repuation and branding on having those boxed sets available in retail for a LONG TIME. For a long time they were the ONLY boxed set available and furthermore, that also helped make their name synonymous with Linux in the U.S. - for right or for wrong. Second, RH is clearly targetting a a different market than RH - namely the enterprise. Look how they piss on desktop users with their mangled KDE etc. ML is going after a different market - the desktop, whose users reside mainly in the retail space right now.
Just a few thoughts...
Cheers
Jason
PS, I am American (Dual NZ citizen) but have been happily living in New Zealand for over 8 years now...
Vincent Danen wrote:
On Sun Sep 21, 2003 at 03:57:11PM -0700, John Wilson wrote:
[...]
Sadly, Rolf, having no visible distrubution channel, ie product on physical shelves in bricks and mortar physical stores, will reduce Mandrake to invisibilty in North Amercia. Like it or not, and that applies to MandrakeSoft not you, we North Americans like to hold something in our hands and look at it. Kick its tires as it were. To get people to migrate to Mandrake is a whole lot easier if I have a box in my hand than directl them to a web site to order a package.
This may not apply elsewhere on the planet but it does here. And that's the point that those of us who live on this continent have been saying. If boxed sets don't start showing up here it amounts to writing off this market. And that's just the way it is.
I do understand the need to cut costs at MandrakeSoft and I do empathize with them on this point. It's just that the wrong marketing decision was made with respect to this part of the world. And that, too, is just the way it is.
Perhaps one day we'll be comfortable with the notion of doing most or all our purchasing on line. But given the overhype of the internet on this market and it's abject failure to deliver on that hype it's gonna take a long, long time.
I really have nothing to add to this thread other than one thought (I'm taking a back seat in this one... it's not worth it for me to open my mouth since I'm not in marketing... I've also only begun to read the thread for "moderator" purposes).
If most people in North America, or the US, feel this way, then let me pose this question. Why has Red Hat then, the most well-known Linux vendor in the US, decided that they are getting out of the retail box market, if this is in fact the case? Seems to me that if Mandrake has stupid marketing folks, then Red Hat must as well. However, considering Red Hat's revenues are also increasing, it would seem to me that they think this is viable and will not hurt the business.
So which is right?
I'm trying to find where I read this, but so far looking at the PR's on RH's website shows me nothing, so maybe I read it on /. or something (in other words, I'm quite sure I read this as accurate, but until I find the source, don't take it as 100%... this was just something that popped in my mind while reading this).
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