On Tuesday 17 Aug 2004 12:19, Thomas Ewald wrote: > Even for old dudes in our fifties and working full-time, $60 is not > insignificant. > > What "commercial" software is available via these memberships? I am looking > primarily for answering machine/voice mail/fax software, but am interested > in what else is available to members, but not to me as a non-member. > > Thanks, > > Tom Ewald > > "Q.H. Wang" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Considering that there are two releases a year, and buying a box each > > time will cost about $60, the Silver gives you the best value for the > > year, IMO, and it is better for Mandrake because the profit margin is > > higher than on a box. > > I am not sure but I do not think so many people are willing to update their > systems twice a year. For me, I have sticked to 9.1 for about two years and > just I shifted to 10 recently. I believe people having similar ideas like > me are not a small number. We only update our systems when major relseases > are available. Of course we may update certain software before this kind > main update. So, I suggest that, if possible, Mandrake can set up a kind of > flexible membership other than the existing bronze, silver, gold ones. I > mean people can contribute to Mandrake whatever number (surely of money) > they want, what they get may be limited download numbers (e.g., 5 or 10 > times a year) or nothing at all. I believe some people would like this one. > To be honest after downloading 9.1 I planned to contribute some to > Mandrake, but when I found the least is $60, I gave up. Man, I must trust > me $60 is not a small number for a student. >
Do not be under any illusion. Mandrake Club membership does not give you many 'monetary' advantages. It is really just a way for people who would otherwise buy boxed sets to use the download edition and still contribute back. Yes it entitles you to discount on commercial packages available from Mandrake Store as described here http://www.mandrakeclub.com/article.php?sid=1294&mode=nocomments and here http://store.mandrakesoft.com/index.php?cPath=25&osCsid=1543ed2a2adb6f8ce3600fc98663150d and you can also download any of the "commercial" packages from the Powerpack CD, but these downloadable packages are all available from elsewhere, (such as Opera, Acrobat, Flash, or Sun Java), or are time limited or in some other way limited trial versions (such as Win4Lin) For your Fax software you could use Hylafax, or Efax from the download edition, or there is Fax2Send from MandrakeClub Commercial downloads. I have never used it but I think the Fax2Send package is fully functional, but limited in the number of users or something. http://www.fax2send.com/fax2send/page/home.html For many people $60 is a lot of money, but there is always the download edition. Mandrake are good members of the GPL community. The download edition is not limited in any way, and MandrakeSoft really do not mind if people use it. They would rather people downloaded Mandrake for free than some other distro. derek -- www.jennings.homelinux.net http://twiki.mdklinuxfaq.org
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