On Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:29:54 +0100 Ian Lynch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hello Ian,
> > First, because however plainly it's spelt out, people will expect
> > support from the same places they get their support for OOo from.
> That's easy, just direct them to an evolution support group.
I apparently wasn't too clear; Despite making it plain that the OOo
forums aren't the right place, there will /still/ be people asking, no
*demanding* support from OOo forums despite it being made abundantly
clear at installation that no support is available for Evolution.
Why? Because most people don't actually _read_ what's printed to the
screen during an install process.
Look at how many people turn up on the users ML asking for their money
back, despite the fact they bought it elsewhere. Despite the fact,
even, that OOo *can't* be bought from the OOo web site. That alone
indicates that people aren't always clear about what and where stuff
comes from.
> > whilst there are people here that could well answer those questions,
> > those questions would still be better asked in an Evolution specific
> If there is demand the community will create one. If there is that
> much demand it means that it has almost certainly been good for OOo.
> Companies form alliances all the time for mutual benefit. I can't see
> any reason why FOSS projects shouldn't do the same. In any case, all
Agreed, but sometimes, this sort of alliance can lead to dilution of
support, instead. Worst case, it can lead to the destruction of any
projects involved. Thankfully, a rare occurrence.
> it requires is a link to where mail clients can be found. It is not
> necessary to have the actual download files hosted with OOo.
Again agreed, but Kurt's post was about _bundling_ Evo with OOo, as an
option, I dealt with that, not the "...at least put a link..." part.
Even that implies approval of, and therefore support for, that package.
> See above. This is a marketing/sales issue. If a sales objection is
> "There is no e-mail client" and we provide the answer we make another
> sale. If we don't provide a satisfactory answer we lose a customer.
Saying "Go to Evolution's web site" may not be the answer they want to
hear. The 'complaint' most often heard is that OOo doesn't include an
email client, not that OOo's site doesn't suggest one. The implication
being that these people don't want to jump all over the WWW downloading
and installing software from different places, they want it all in one
package. To those of us used to the FLOSS world, web hopping isn't a
problem, but some people won't do it. The net effect might be that the
'customer' is still lost to OOo.
> The exact method of providing a solution to the customer is not the
> issue, what matters is missing an opportunity to make a sale.
To us, maybe. To the customer, the exact method may be an issue.
> > Third, free software is all about choice - by bundling Evolution
> We are not reducing choice by informing a customer of how to solve a
Yes, but since I was dealing with Kurt's suggestion to bundle software,
rather than informing, my point about an _apparent_ reduction in choice
is valid.
I'm all for informing the customer (can they really be customers, if
the product is free?[1]) about their options, but bundling an MUA with
OOo isn't merely informing.
By simply bundling Evolution with the OOo suite, I can see a whole slew
of complaints coming along the lines:
I just installed OOo and it hasn't installed the email package, why?
For many people, the expectation will be that the two things will get
installed by the one routine, despite being written quite clearly that
the two must be installed using separate install routines. And given
that people already complain that OOo doesn't install itself
automatically, this would be just too much effort for them, and they'd
give up in disgust.
Admittedly, for every person that the above applies to, there will be
ten or more that manage quite happily, without any issues at all.
[1] There's no need to answer, it's a philosophical debate, irrelevant
to this discussion.
--
Regards _
/ ) "The blindingly obvious is
/ _)rad never immediately apparent"
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
Paradise City - Guns 'N' Roses
signature.asc
Description: PGP signature
