On 2010/10/19 01:17, Scott Penrose <sco...@dd.com.au> wrote: > On 19/10/2010, at 8:47 AM, David Lawley wrote: > > Hi all, > > > > What? Triadis chose to supply their equipement with XCSoar. If I bought a > > HP device I would expect HP to support the *supplied* operational software, > > irrespective of whether it is propritery or open source. > > This is pure nonsense. You do buy HP devices - they are called Compaq - do > they support XCSoar ? No ! It is also unrealistic for the supplier of the > hardware and software to even support new versions of that software (e.g. > your HP Compaq does not run Windows Mobile 6).
Scott, I disagree with you. I do think Triadis has a responsibility to actively support XCSoar. It all depends on how you advertise your product - a PDA comes with Windows CE and some office software, and that software is supported by HP/Compaq. No, they will not support XCSoar because they are not involved, they did not advertise XCSoar support and they did not ship XCSoar. Triadis is different, let me cite from http://www.triadis.ch/index.php?altair (translated from German, because I don't see an English version): "ALTAIR ships with XCSoar by default: - open source software developed by soaring pilots, suited for Altair - is being enhanced continuously - more interesting features are planned" That wording includes big promises. It includes the promise that Altair customers will get new versions and new features. It makes Triadis responsible for adapting future XCSoar versions to the Altair. At the price tag of an Altair, I would expect excellent customer support. Without that, I cannot imagine how the price can be justified. I'm confused by Mark's insistence on the number of units sold; does 150 units mean the Altair was a commercial failure or what? Does that mean customers are not eligible for support because the Altair has failed on the market? That is a stupid thing to say for somebody who wants to sell more Altairs (or does he not?), because with this kind of Public Relations, potential customers get scared away even more, fearing the Altair is a money dump. > * Triadis has paid back XCSoar in kind many times over I doubt that. So far, Triadis has contributed a total sum of 62 patches, many of which are trivial. That is remarkable, just like any other of our developers, but it is not outstanding. They have developed much more, but refused to give these changes back to us for too long (which was an obvious copyright violation). When they did, it was too late to merge. I don't count that as "paid back many times over". > * Triadis are now helping support XCSoar 6 by providing code and > hardware Code: providing the Altair source code is not an optional service, it is an obligation mandated by our license, protected by copyright law. Hardware: that is a good thing, but it has yet to happen. > * Don't put unrealistic future proof requirements on suppliers of > hardware - you don't for your phone, car, microwave, DVD player Not good examples. My contract includes a new phone every 2 years, I don't care a lot. My car and my microwave are "future proof" already and will always be. A DVD player cannot technically be upgraded to a Blu-Ray player, but it would be a stupid thing (ecological disaster) to buy a new Altair and throw the old one away, just to get a new software version. Max ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download new Adobe(R) Flash(R) Builder(TM) 4 The new Adobe(R) Flex(R) 4 and Flash(R) Builder(TM) 4 (formerly Flex(R) Builder(TM)) enable the development of rich applications that run across multiple browsers and platforms. Download your free trials today! http://p.sf.net/sfu/adobe-dev2dev _______________________________________________ Xcsoar-user mailing list Xcsoar-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/xcsoar-user
