on 18/7/02 16:22, Fernando Ubiria at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> Hi,
> for a UNIX system, you usually "buy" a license for one computer.
> When you got a new version, you will pay for it, but usually not the
> full price. It is considered an update, not a new license. The
> maintenance patches are usually free.
> 
> The price for an upgrade of SUSE linux is something like  60% of the
> full price, it is never like if you where buying it for the first
> time.
> 
> Considering that, I would pay something like $69 for an upgrade from
> 10.1.5 to 10.2.
> This upgrade means a better Finder and the BSD layer goes from 4.2 to 4.4.
> If I must pay the full price, I will wait for 10.3 and probably have
> a newer BSD layer.
> 
> Rgds, Fernando

Neither case (UNIX or Linux) has the upgrades being free. $129 is just where
Apple decided to put the cost of the next version. One thing that I see
becoming a problem is having a myriad of versions out there. If Apple were
to sell 10.2 as an update (as per 10.1 for $20 or whatever) then you'd have
people in the messy situation of having OS X 10.0, updating their system
with 10.1, then applying 10.2 OVER that again.

Although I'm not overly joyed at the prospect of buying another OS, I don't
mind it if the enticement is strong enough. Performance improvements would
certainly be worth shelling out for -- OS X 10.0 brought UNIX (yes, I
recognise the semantics involved Ryan) to Mac with its stability. 10.1
brought significant improvements to the OS that took it out of beta status
and heralded the beginning of OS X proper. They've probably spent more $$$
updating 10.1->10.2 than, say their change from 8.6 to 9.0. They need to
recover that somehow.

Yes, I think $129 is a touch high, but, then again, what is the standard by
which we measure pricing? (UNIX licencing agreements are not a good model
here since UNIXes used to cost an arm and a leg (cost recovery up front))
The jump from 8.6 -> 9.0 was the cost of an OS. How much did M$ charge for
Windows 98 -> 98 SE (did they?)?

I'll probably wait one week before upgrading (that's probably how long it'll
take the university book store to get the packages ;) (we used to have an
institutional agreement with Apple, but Apple now wants institutions to buy
1000 licences at a time and the university can't move that many (much
cheaper than package licences... alas, that is the way the cookie crumbles)
:(.

Eric.


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