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Hi,
I like the comparison with the car industry. As an example,
i have this: My car is now in the sixt year and i received a free "Update"
regarding the black box which controls the air condition. So, the car is out of
production and out of any warranties ("subscription") and the vendor still
offers free "security patches". From my point of view, this gives a lot of trust
and reliability to the vendor. Back to software: Taking care about older
products is a good thing to keep the customer base and loyality. I think "taking
care" is always good.
--
Mit freundlichen Grüssen -------------------------------------------- Merlin Consulting Martin Schaible Bahnhofstrasse 27 CH-8702 Zollikon Phone: +41 44 391 30 00 Fax: +41 44 391 32 49 Mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://www.merlinconsulting.ch Support: http://support.merlinconsulting.ch GPS: N47 20.235 E8 34.226 -------------------------------------------- News - Neue Produkte: .:. mxGuard - InvURIBL - MessageSniffer .:. NOD32 Antivirus System .:. BlueDragon .:. Kiwi Syslog Monitor .:. Paessler GmbH .:. SmarterTools -------------------------------------------- Von: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Im Auftrag von Jim F. Gesendet: Dienstag, 24. Oktober 2006 22:13 An: [email protected] Betreff: RE: [IMail Forum] It is worth it to buy the SA? I
see the point you're trying to make, but that's an unfair question because it
depends on a lot of factors; such as the severity of the vulnerability, the time
investment required to fix said vulnerability, as well as the amount
of customers still using Windows 95. If a large enough percentage of MS's
customers were still running Win95 (which they're not) and it was a
critical vulnerability (aka - will lose all data and/or eat your
soul), you bet MS would whip out a patch if they thought it was easy to do
so. It's a business decision. Imagine the bad press they would get
if there was a virus floating around eating the souls of the elderly who haven't
updated their PCs since 1995? ;-) That said, MS has offered support
and patches for 6-8 years on average for Win95 and Win98 - and that's for an Operating
System for home users. We're talking about a core business application
here which is a lot different, IMO.
Your second question doesn't really apply at all, IMO, because you're not
talking about a vulnerability, you're talking about compatibility which is
completely different.
My point was that a business shouldn't be forced into paying for a
year's worth of support because there was a critical vulnerability discovered in
a piece of software they bought and implemented just 3 years ago, especially
when the newest versions of the software are far from stable. I can
understand Ipswitch not wanting to give away new features to customers without a
current SA - that's their product, and they have a right to make money from
it. But they shouldn't abandon the customers who haven't chosen to upgrade
when it comes to a flaw or defect (aka bug, vulnerability) in the software that
they have sold.
"We apologize for the recently-discovered manufacturing defect in
your 2003 Toyota that has been running great for the entire time you've had
it. However, since the warranty is only good for 3 years from the purchase
date, we can't fix it for you. You must upgrade to the 2007 model,
which has random engine failures above 35 MPH, in order to have this
issue resolved. Please be advised that purchasing the 2007 model as soon
as possible is in your best interest since spontaneous detonation is a severe
problem that could lead to bodily harm or death. We apologize for the
inconvenience."
From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of John T (Lists)
Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2006 2:01 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] It is worth it to buy the SA? So if a vulnerability is discovered in Windows 95, Microsoft should spend the time and resources developing a patch to fix it?
What about all those software vendors that were using old style parallel port keys that became obsolete when Windows XP came out? Should those software vendors have been forced to provide entirely new versions of software and keys that were working perfectly fine under DOS 6.22 or Windows 3.1 for free?
John T eServices For You
"Seek, and ye shall find!"
-----Original
Message-----
>> The answer is obvious, time to drop Imail. <<
The only problem is that the alternatives aren't exactly that great. SmarterMail looks like a great product, but it's still lacking some of the fundamental elements of a corporate mail server like TLS. They also remind me now of how IPswitch was 5 or 6 years ago. I'm afraid that if I jump ship to SM, in a few years they'll start going down the same over-priced, feature-bloated, performance-lacking, unstability-ridden road that Ipswitch (and Declude) did. I've looked at the other alternative products and none are really that viable IMO.
I would love it if there were a full featured Open Source mail server. Not that I am looking to save money - I'd just like to be able to use a product that is driven by functionality instead of the bean counters.
FWIW, I didn't renew my IMail service agreement that expired a month or two ago. I'm not sure what I'm holding out for, but I don't want to feel like I'm being robbed by paying Ipswitch to use their product. That said, I'm not using a version with a vulnerability in it, but that shouldn't matter. If a vulnerability is discovered in any version of a piece of software, the vendor should provide a patch regardless of SA status.
From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of Tyran
Ormond On 05:41 PM 10/23/2006 -0400, it would
appear that Mike N wrote: Now that there's been an SMTP exploit released (yesterday) for the recently patched SMTP bug, you are running on borrowed time until someone decides to try it on your server.
----- Original Message ----- From: Troy D. Hilton Subject: [IMail Forum] It is worth it to buy the SA? Weve been running Imail 7.15 for a few years now and its been running very well. Well, its time to renew my SA with Ipswitch but Im wondering is it worth it?
In following this list I see that the latest versions of Imail have been far from stellar, so Im know I will not be upgrading to 2006.x anytime soon. I think Ive seen that 8.22 is pretty stable but is it worth the upgrade from a 7.15 thats old but stable, to a 8.22? Is it worth it for me to spend the money for an SA for Imail?
Opinions?
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