For the time being at least, free speech has to be pretty much the same as free beer. If the code is free, then anyone who wants can make free binaries, including cloning your entire distribution (remember Mandrake itself was for many years thought of as a Red Hat clone). If the code isn't free, you lose your developers. That is the "real world" - you can't have half-free software.
Robin On Monday 18 March 2002 07:46, john rigby wrote: > Hi Todd & folks, > Explaining value: > How much money do you think charities would receive if the big > numbers weren't tax deductible? > > Many years ago a friend of mine who thought he knew marketing ( was > a famous expert) went into professional fund-raising. Lasted 3 > months. Yet, it is the little people that DO make real charities > work. They just don't have the money........... > BUT if you give them an option to buy something that is actually > useful as well, they do, they do. > Some genius in Oz many years ago came up with the idea of the > Lion's Club Xmas Cake. Even I used to buy a couple ...... > > I don't even believe in Free Trials. I believe in guarantees. > Moneyback ones. Who could run a business today without them? In > most civilised countries they are mandatory. > If *anyone* could download a *demo* of Mandrake, that too is > different. THAT would be very smart. AND small. It would have to > demo a full replacement for THAT other one's suite - that's all. > "That's all" means just that. > Not one in a million - literally- of the potential users out there > would even ever know what a Server was. Would ever use the "utils". > > For true Geeks, the legion of Masochists who like > developing\getting broken by these things, by all means they should > be able to play with kernels etc. to their hearts content. They are > vital - but they have little to do with successful, competent > *marketing* strategy. > At most in the whole world we are talking about 10,000 people. All > could be absorbed into a Friends Of Mandrake Developer's Club (free > - entry requirement being a proved fully working install) and given > lots of help via the millions coming in from a sensible consumer > distro............... > > But, what on earth *IS* someone who can't afford a lousy $100 doing > playing with Server Systems and expecting support??? ( Pardon my > ignorance, but what type of person are we talking about here, > then?) > REAL Server Systems DO cost thousands - I know I've bought and paid > for them over the years. I STILL don't ever expect them to be > "free"! What I hope for is just the dream of freedom of choice. > > To finalise my point: > The 18 richest people in the history of this planet - 6 of whom > each have more financial power than existed in the entire world a > century ago, run businesses based on maximising of market > opportunity - which translated means: charging what the market is > prepared to pay. Not even what will make a simple profit - but > maximising what the market will pay. > > None of them and no successful person in the history of the world > ever made any money by giving their product or service away! > Samples, yes, Demos, yes, the whole cake? > > I repeat, can someobody show me what the sales pitch is here? > There is a market like me who will pay for experimental products in > the hope of getting an edge, or even holding on (to his sanity) > but, we are miniscule. How many total paid-for retail packs has > Mandrake sold? > Not even enough to run a single, tiny Corporate Jet. > But, 20 million at just $10 each = $200 million - with no > distribution costs............................. > It's a start. > Especially as almost nobody came to the pay-for Club Party. Who > would? Most of the people out there won't even pay for a disc pak > that you can buy for a few bucks. They are already conditioned to > "free". They will build a machine at home to save $20-50 assembly > fee. Get no guarantee. Some do it because they like the pain. > > They are not the market. > > They are not the market > > They are not the market > > The market is the 90 million annoyed, frustrated Windows Users who > will soon be told to join a subscriber thing or else. > > The market even bigger and better is the 300 million people out > there who would buy a computer if it wasn't all so confusing and > threatening and full of 20 y.o. kids showing off in electronic > stores using all the latest splat words......... > Instead of a nice older person who smiles and arranges their home > installation for them and a training session on the Net to hook > them into a User Support Group.................... > > Mandrake could own it. > > Cheap low-level hardware. > Cheap Operating System > Cheap Software > Built-in giant underground support network. > Jobs as installers for hundreds of junior geeks > Jobs as tutors for hundreds of older Users. > > It would all be so easy. > > > Cheers, > > Him Again > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Todd Slater <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 1:53 PM > Subject: Re: [newbie] How to best support Mandrake - real world > style > > > On Mon, 18 Mar 2002 11:59:34 +1000 > > "john rigby" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > <snip> > > > > > The very idea of charity is a repugnant thing when viewed > > > intelligently. Support aid is something else entirely. > > > But buying value............................!! > > > > Could you explain this a little more? > > > > <snip> > > > > > But, if Mandrake called in PayPals services and said: $10 for > > > the lot by download in bits. NO FREEBIES, it would work. > > > > I would never have downloaded and tried Mandrake if I had had to > > pay. I was not willing to pay anything to test it out. Now that > > it is my only OS at home, I will spring for a box set to get some > > documentation on paper (hopefully), and to support Mandrake in > > general. But that's just me. I'm sure your $10/copy scheme will > > rescue the company from all troubles. Why hasn't anybody ever > > thought of it before!!! Absolute genius! > > > > > (If it didn't the worst that would happen is only what *is* > > > going to happen...... another nice company bites the dust, > > > sooner or later.) Shops could still sell the Full Boxes. > > > Nobody should be able to get the full commercial Server system > > > without being FINANCIALLY competent enough to spring say, even > > > $100. Seen M$ Prices for a Server???? > > > > Ah, well, if John Rigby says a server system should cost at least > > $100, and that a person who cannot pay that sum has absolutely no > > right to possess a server, well, yes of course, by all means. > > This world scares you, doesn't it John? Wait--I feel like > > breaking into song-- > > > > Come mothers and fathers > > Throughout the land > > And don't criticize > > What you can't understand > > Your sons and your daughters > > Are beyond your command > > Your old road is > > Rapidly agin'. > > Please get out of the new one > > If you can't lend your hand > > For the times they are a-changin'. > > > > (I hope the young whipper-snappers out there still listen to > > Bobby D) > > > > <snip> > > Yadda yadda, sigh, humpf. > > > > > > -- > > Todd Slater > > We are students of words; we are shut up in schools, and > > colleges, and recitation rooms, for ten or fifteen years, and > > come out at last with a bag of wind, a memory of words, and do > > not know a thing. (Ralph Waldo Emerson) > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- >--------- ---- > > > Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? > > Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com -- "Give me the views, and I'll give you the arguments." - Chrysippus Robin Turner IDMYO, Bilkent Universitesi Ankara 06533 Turkey http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/~robin
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
